It Happened Like This
by Louie001
Summary: A random collection of backstories and history of Cloud and the 7th Heaven Family. Currently ranging through the compilation. Possibly I will split the stories into their own Titles because as it is, it seems chaotic. All stories interrelated. Always CloTi
1. Pre ACC Fenrir: The Deal

Selection of short stories interelated and follow the timeline of my bigger fanfiction, The Promised Land

Not sure if I'll split the subtitles. Probably.

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><p><strong>PRE ACC<strong>

**FENRIR**

**THE DEAL**

The roller door of the garage of Seventh Heaven was up, letting in the cool breeze, and what was left of the afternoon light. The garage was Cloud's unofficial 'room' and over the past couple of years he had accumulated parts, tools, bike magazines and anything else he deemed important. There was probably a lot of unnecessary junk in there as well, if he listened to Tifa, but- they were his.

There was even room for an old couch that he and Tifa picked up at an open saleyard. If he had to spend time in there than he would at least have somewhere comfy to sit, but that was Tifa's idea, not his. And he expected it was for her comfort and not especially for his as he was only ever working when in the garage, while she would flop on the soft cushions, supplied by her, and talk to him about her day, or anything she wanted and needed to share with him. Since its presence in the garage, everyone felt comfortable visiting him. Denzel sprawled out, reading motor magazines and going over mechanic manuals. Even Marlene sneaked in at times, under the guise of checking her plant that she had left under the one narrow window to 'decorate' and to rid the garage of that oily stink, so she said. Oil didn't have to be a bad smell, he told her, and she had to water the plant, if she wanted it to live. After reassuring herself the plant was healthy, she would stand above him, watching and asking questions about why he did that with that tool, and why did he use that particular wrench and not this bigger one and so on. They all wanted to be a part of Cloud's room, which he didn't mind as long as they didn't expect him to talk that much when they visited and gave him some space. At the end of the day it made him feel wanted and he couldn't complain about that.

Cloud was under Fenrir on a wheel tray, attempting to screw in a new and difficult part he had recently picked up. He wanted to make the most of the natural light before he had to put on the fluros. Denzel had been sitting, chatting by his feet, while Cloud was cursing the clamp that would not go on, only half listening to the boy's enthusiastic motorbike talk.

"So when can I ride it?"

Cloud reached for a smaller tool, and frowned as he examined the head, before tossing it away and grabbing the next size. "When can you ride it?" he repeated, not really paying attention to his earnest request.

"Yeah. When?"

"When you're older."

"Like how old?"

Cloud lifted a concerned brow, considering his question. Denzel was only fourteen. Maybe old enough for a small bike, but Fenrir too young. "When you're strong enough to hold its weight. A few years, but " he twisted the clamp on the bronzed engine segment that would not attach no matter how much he forced it.

"But?" Denzel's voice went low, doubtful.

Dropping the tool back in the metal tray, clattering them aside, Cloud stopped working, and crooked his neck to see Denzel's feet. "Fenrir isn't a _normal _bike. No-one else has ever ridden it. Safely."

"Huh?"

"Maybe he's not like that anymore but still I'd be worried." Cloud wheeled himself from under Fenrir and sat up to look at Denzel with a steady gaze.

Denzel scrutinized him under his lanky fringe with a pout. "How come you can ride him than?"

"That's a good question and I'm still not sure. I'll tell you what happened..."

~~7~~

At the Main Station of The Gold Saucer, Cloud waited at the workers entry for the service elevators. He kept his distance from personal, maintenance workers, and other couriers, all waiting to get their business over and done with, much like him. On this particular day he was ready to give up his idea of travelling around the Planet gathering provisions for Seventh Heaven. The thought of telling Tifa that and seeing her disappointment kept him from any grumbling, but still, he was feeling the drain of the extended travel and having to rely on strangers. He could try to endure just one more journey couldn't he? He decided he just needed his own transport. That would solve a lot of problems and... rage.

From Costa del Sol to the Gold Saucer, he had spent the last couple of hours trapped in a cramped truck that smelt like wet chocobo and with a man that wanted to talk about every journey he had ever been on, and expected Cloud to do the same. It wasn't going to happen. The thought of travelling back home with the same man caused Cloud to wince. There had to be another way.

Sal Dumaris, a supplier at Costa del Sol, who on occasion gave him the unusual fruits, or what Tifa called exotic, persuaded him to deliver an important package to an associate of his at the Gold Saucer. Cloud had been reluctant, mainly because of the transport issue, and on top of that, he wasn't sure he wanted to be known as a delivery boy. But, Sal was adamant it be him. He trusted Cloud. Cloud wasn't sure why he looked so trustworthy, what with a massive sword at his back. The sword he still carried around. Perhaps it was because of the sword that Sal asked him.

Ignoring Cloud's hesitation, Sal had pushed gil into his hand and a permit letter he would need to get a Workers Pass to the Gold Saucer. He added a parting comment about the job, "Besides, my friend will help you get hooked up with an answer to your problems."

More out of curiosity than anything, Cloud wanted to meet this man who could help him with his 'problems'.

With the oddly shaped brown wrapped parcel, he entered the open lift. It was a long boring ride up to Chocobo Square. The level had changed since he'd been there. For a start he could barely move for the crushing crowds. He didn't remember it being this busy. The near end of the Planet sure hadn't deterred people flocking to the amusement park. Maybe it had even increased business. Adding to the noise of the overabundant crowds was an incessant drone of engines and vociferous cheers. He could hardly hear anything else above it all.

Away from the shoving throng, he spied the Workers door. After sliding in his pass card the door opened. He walked into a buzzing hub of workers, maintenance vehicles and some working, and some not, machinery. He walked past workshops and the noise beyond dulled to a muted roar. A sign reading, 'Speed Machines' was nailed to a wall. Cloud walked through the open workshop, past boxes and crates. The inside was larger than he first realized. It was not just a mechanics shop but what seemed to be a storage area for motorcycles. So that explained the noise he had been hearing.

"You want something?"

It took Cloud a moment to register that the voice came from a man lying under a motorbike. "Axel?" He laid the package on a table, strewn with tools and other metal paraphernalia. "I've got a delivery from Sal."

Axel rose to his feet slowly, wiping his dirty hands on his red, greased smeared overalls.

Cloud walked around the shop while Axel ripped the paper off the parcel like an excited child. Running his hand over a silver fender, Cloud admired the gleaming metal chassis, polished to perfection. Good looking bikes were scattered around the shop, some in the midst of being dismantled, or perhaps refitted. At the back of the shop, a thick studded wheel caught his attention. His eyes travelled along the elongated black frame to the complicated fuselage and on, to the front girth that seemed to go on and on. The size of the bike was bigger than any he had ever seen. He felt breathless at the find.

Behind him, Axel cried, "What the jiminy is this supposed to be?" He held up and examined a rusty bronze curved Leviathan horn, and grumbled under his breath, "...that man, sending me his junk." He took a note tied on the mouthpiece and threw the horn down on the table, clattering objects to the floor. Reading the note, he chuckled under his breath, and than threw it down without a care. He sauntered over to Cloud, sweeping his hand over a crimson flame on a cruiser as he went. "You like bikes?"

Cloud glided his hand over the leather seat and collected a layer of dust. The black metal was grubby in the same manner, as if it had never been cleaned. "Who doesn't?"

Axel nodded while staring the bike over. "It's a fine machine." He smoothed his hand over the front lip, and appeared embarrassed by the state of the bike. "It doesn't get much attention is all."

"There are bike races here now?"

"Yeah. They've been a big hit since opening. It's where the gill is. The boss had been working for years on the track." Axel gave him a confused stare, as if asking where had Cloud been for the last year. "Seems everyone comes here now."

The last time Cloud was at the Gold Saucer he couldn't remember any mention about race tracks, only the chocobos, but at the time he had too many other things to worry about.

Axel scratched his black stringy hair, about to walk away.

"How much for this bike?"

Axel turned with a squint in his eye, and mouth curving into an enigmatic smirk. "Ah, you see, this one's special."

Cloud's curiosity was piqued. If something was so special why was it in such bad condition? He studied the paired front wheels under the black metal and the neglected brushed gold engine. "It's not looking to special right now."

Axel rubbed the dusty front cover. "Maybe, but there aren't many models like this. It belonged to a hot shot in Wutai. Some master of sword fighting, probably some ninja. I don't touch the engine." He pushed past Cloud and roughly shifted him from the side of the bike. "Get a load of this." Pressing some unseen button, compartments on either side of the bike sprang open. "Apparently, he had it made so he could ship weapons, illegally. Cool, huh?"

Cloud put his hand in the dust free opening, thinking it was very cool. An amazing design feat.

Axel watched him. "I'm not sure it would fit that big sword though."

He might be right... but something in his gut nudged him to take it further. He wanted it, no, he needed that bike. "How much is it?" Not that he could probably afford it, but wasn't it worth knowing?

"It's not really for sale."

Cloud frowned darkly, not liking that answer at all. "What do you mean, 'not really'?"

"It's... it does need some repairs." Axel closed an eye and squinted at Cloud, assessing how serious he was. "The dual throttle doesn't work, and it needs a tune up. I've got others you can look at."

Shifting his sword to a more comfortable position, Cloud sat on the bike. He leaned into the arch, and adjusted his girth to the bike's angle, and swiveling the front wheel, he admired the hip-based turning. There was a bulk to the vehicle, a solid weight under his body that felt secure and significant. He held the handles, neatly hidden under the overarching fuel tank. It couldn't hurt to ask, he might never get another chance. "How about a ride?"

Axel eyed him for moments. "You reckon you could ride it?"

"Oh, yeah." Cloud held his grin at the thought of it.

Stroking his chin, Axel glanced between the bike and Cloud. "Alright, I'll tell you what I'll do. If you win the Champion Race today you can take the bike, I'll take the winnings."

Cloud sat up straight, considering the offer with a thoughtful furrow on his pale brow. "But you say the bike needs repairs? Will it run?"

"Yeah, it goes. It's fast. It's just… the engine is temperamental. It needs a special touch." Axel raised his finger and waved it in the air. "But, there's a catch."

"Okay, let's hear it." There had to be something.

"You have to pay me to ride in the race."

Now Cloud was stroking his chin. The man was a shrewd business man after all. Too shrewd. He could pay and get nothing but a ride, on a bike that might not even go. "So, I'm paying for a ride?"

"Yeah, well, at worst. At best you get a bike." Axel watched Cloud's deepening incredulous stare, and spread his hands out wide. "Hey, I'm trying to run a business here, and it could cost me if you smash it up."

Cloud didn't have any significant gil on him. He wondered if he could promise him the materia he had at home, but that wasn't all of his to dispose of. Not that anyone else would notice its absence, except Yuffie, who always counted each one and sorted them into types, every time she visited. He let out a slow involuntary sigh.

"You don't have any gil, do you?" He shook his head. "What do you do than? What's your trade?"

"I part own a bar and restaurant."

"You do?" His dark eyes lit up. "A good one?"

"It's the best in Edge." Cloud, feeling proud, stretched back and rummaged in his pocket for one of the cards they had printed up. The card was still good after being in his pocket, probably for days. He handed it to him.

"Edge..." Axel stared at the Seventh Heaven logo that had Tifa and Clouds' name printed on it. Barrett had sternly forbidden them from putting his name on the card, exclaiming, _It's not my thing, it's you guys._

Axel asked, "That's the new Midgar, right?"

"Just outside Midgar."

Axel flicked the card between his fingers, getting excited. "I like to get out of this place once in a while, and I like whiskey. How about you give me some discounts, something like that?"

That didn't seem too much. Just discounts... just food and drink right?

"I know!" Axel yelped. "A life-time free pass to your restaurant. The bikes worth it, eh?"

Just for letting him ride the bike? _Just a ride?_ Could the deal get any shoddier?

Cloud looked down at the powerful looking machine between his legs. How much did he want to ride it? - but with a chance of winning the bike what would Tifa say? He decided he wouldn't mention the bike at all, not yet. If he managed to win the bike, than it would be more than worth it. He would even serve the man himself. Cloud pulled out his phone. "Okay." There was no way he was going to guarantee it without asking Tifa first. He wouldn't dare.

After speaking with Tifa, he got permission, easily. Why wasn't she asking him what he was up to? It irked him in a warped kinda way. Didn't she want to know? But than again, Tifa was smart, she probably thought it was best not knowing.

"Your girlfriend is your boss?" Axel continued smirking at him.

Cloud tinged at the blunt remark. "Kinda..." There was no way he would deny he didn't wish that were so, and he knew there wasn't any other girl for him. If and when Axel met Tifa than it was best to make sure he was relaying the truth. Making it official was something else entirely.

"We all good than?"

"Yeah, I'll just write you a receipt."

"Good, the race'll be starting soon." Axel looked him over as Cloud climbed off the bike. "You want gear?"

"Gear?" Cloud looked down at his customary black pants and sleeveless sweater. Only one pauldron, a habitual accessory, and maybe due to superstition. He admitted he must have looked bare.

Axel nodded his head towards a rack. Helmets, bulky armour and other body protectors were in a disgusting blend of bright colors, and all looking haggard.

"I'll pass." Cloud thought he really should be asking why he needed body protection, but for some reason he felt he didn't want to know right than.

"Suit yourself. At least you got that nice big weapon."

"What?"

"You'll see. Just you keep it on you. Anywho, it's all about the race, don't get too hung up on the other stuff."

"The other stuf-"

"And this, bas- baby, goes fast. It's a regular speed demon." He cackled loud and long.

~7~

Axel loaded up the enormous motorbike onto his trailer with Cloud helping alongside, and he drove it to the pre-race deck elevator. They unloaded the bike and Cloud rolled it onto the platform. Axel left him instructions and said he had to register Cloud's name and fill out a bunch of annoying forms, and he promptly ran off. Cloud was left with the bike, plus a dozen other race entrants and their machines, all headed up to the staging area. He sat, gripping the bike's handles, hoping the machine did not need as many repairs as Axel said.

He glanced at the other bikes, trying not to appear too interested. They were a range of various types, half of them appeared to be so padded with booster accessories he couldn't tell what sort of bikes they were. The riders resembled their vehicles. Covered in hardened leather, spikes, shiny pieces of plate, and every type of fortification a die-hard racer could probably get. On top of that there was a prolific splattering of weapons amongst the riders. What sort of race was this?

"Cloud?" a female voice squeaked right near his ear.

He resisted turning, already inhaling the sickingly sweet smell of flowered perfume, to see the person he expected, or was that dreaded. In her pink girly dress and coiffured honey blond hair, she stared intensely, her eyes like saucers. She hadn't changed at all. "Hey. Ester."

"Cloud! It's really you." She clapped her pink nailed hands with excitement and rocked on the balls of her feet, her voice was trill and painful. "You didn't get thrown in prison again, did you?"

"Nah." Cloud gave her a brief glance. It was better to not look directly at her; she had a way of drilling you with her needy eyes. "I'm working."

Her eyes glazed over with pity, and she nodded. "This is where the gil is."

"No more chocobos?"

"Chocobos, out of date, out of season." Her cheeks bulged with delight and her fists pumped near her face. "Motorbikes are the future. And it's never been so much fun." She stiffened abruptly. "Hold on, working? You should be working for me." She finally noticed what he was sitting on. "Oh, my dear Odin!" Gasping, she clutched at her chest with one hand, the other pointed at his bike. "You're riding the Hell Hound!" She started to step away, and her voice suddenly turned breezy. "Oh, well, it was nice knowing you."

He stared down at the bike and cleared dust from the fuel tank, revealing a section of an etched pattern underneath. "What are you talking about?"

She stepped further from the bike, as if it might attack her, and with a dramatic gush in her voice, said, "It's cursed. Everyone who rides it, is either maimed or killed. That evil Money Pot of a man has found another sucker."

"That's crazy." So that's why Axel never bothered putting money into fixing it.

Ester shook her blond curls, sadly. "It's true. It's the speed. Too fast. Axel doesn't care, because he just wants something out of it."

Had he just sold his life away for a lifetime free pass at Seventh Heaven? Tifa would not be happy. "Too fast, eh?"

Ester stared at him with wide-eyed fear. "No one tames the Hell Hound."

So that's what Axel was betting on. Either way it was win win for Axel. He hadn't even test driven it yet. "We'll see than." He exhaled a nervous breath.

Ester nodded towards his sword. "You can ride one handed?"

"Ah… kinda." Not only was he racing to win, was he going to have to defend his life at the same time?

They arrived at the Staging Area, and Ester sang with cheer, "Good luck, Cloud. Hope you live! And if you do, come work for me."

Cloud rolled the monstrous machine off the platform. The Hell Hound. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to think such a beautiful machine was cursed. Maybe it was cursed, like him.

(continued in Part 2, The Race)


	2. Pre ACC Fenrir: The Race

**Hi Again! Please leave a comment. That would be awesome. Hope you like this! :D**

**REVISED: 11 FEB 2012**

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><p>~~ Chapter 2 ~~<p>

**THE RACE**

Along with the other competitors, Cloud was directed onto a marked deck area that began to move up. He watched the ceiling roll away, revealing a blur of glittering color and noise. At the appearance of the contestants, the crowds erupted in deafening waves of cheering.

Cloud ogled the spectacle that was the track, momentarily forgetting that he was a part of the show. Stands for the screaming, excited people were situated along the track and all over the place it would seem, making the most of every vantage point. A massive screen flashed portions of the track, so no action could be missed. On first glance, the track looked like a labyrinth of ramps and upward twisting roadways. Staring studiously, his eyes tried to follow it. He gave up, and pressing his lips together, holding back his grin, he attempted looking focused. Taking a deep concentrated breath, he tuned into the Commentator's voice, introducing the competitors. He looked across at the bunch of racers, at least two dozen of them, and most of them looking tough and seasoned.

WUTAI'S REVENGE - the Announcer shouted, ridden by KYLAN -, who looked very Wutai, with his black short hair and slender build. The man and his machine surely had to be one of the favorites. Cloud blatantly stared at the big bike similar to his, fascinated with its sleek black frame and burnished bronze undercarriage. Designed in the same fashion, yet it was well looked after.

-CRUSHER- Some monster of a bearded man with a horned helmet on a gold and red flamed cruiser. He raised his weapon and roared at the yelling crowds. The man reminded Cloud of Barrett.

Beside the red cruiser was - CANON - a lanky, mean-mouthed man with a crimson open helmet, stared back at Cloud, his eyes sizing him and his bike up. "This track's gonna kill you, boy."

Cloud rolled his bike forward, flicking the stand up. "Do I look worried?" He kept his eyes on the track.

Canon growled, "You look weak."

Cloud held his tongue, his rising anger added to his already volatile nervous energy. He would save it for the track.

The Commentator continued, -STRIFE, on the HELL HOUND Cheering spectators reached a fever level of excitement at the mention of the bike, and not so much the rider. So it really was called that. Axel was a devious devil.

Rolling through the pack, a black racer bike stopped two riders down. Cloud looked over the rider in a jet black suit, full face matching helmet with shinning black visor. SHADOW, on VELOCITOR

The race really did bring out the strangest people, Cloud thought. Looking down at himself, he had to smile at his bare minimal in protection. He could only hope his bike would get them both through.

The speaker's voice boomed over the escalating commotion of the people. Cloud's own exhilaration pumped through his veins, making his muscles ache to get moving. But he thought it was probably in his best interests to try to pay attention.

SPEED FEST 2000 CHAMPIONSHIP is a TWO LAP RACE with CARDINAL RULES. NO SPELL CASTING AND INTENTIONAL DEATH of RACERS WILL DISQUALIFY YOU FROM THE RACE -

A wave of cheers signaled the people approved of this rule.

_Intentional death?_ Did that mean unintentional death was okay? Cloud stared ahead, aghast at the insinuation. He warmed his engine along with everyone else. Axel had briefed him on the bike controls, but that was a whole lot different than taking it in his own hands. He breathed steady, reminding himself, _it's just a ride._ The bike hummed under him, so smooth he turned the grip to make sure it was on. It roared in response, ready to go. His eyes fired up and his mouth curved into an adrenalin packed grin.

- READY - the Starter blared.

"CRUSHAAAAR!" The huge man spun his plated mace over his head in some vain display of power.

The atmosphere was heady with unrestrained ebullience. Cloud could smell the sultry sweat, oily exhausts and the trace of energized fear, so strong he wondered if everyone could smell it.

- GO! -

A haze of men and machines sped off in an overwhelming storm of metallic vibrations. Cloud, more intent on familiarizing himself with the vehicles handling than placing himself with the front runners, let himself be hemmed in by the glut of riders on the track's start.

The riders clumped in a noisy mass on the narrow track. Cloud used the straight to get accustomed to the bike's performance. Its steady balanced maneuvering was excellent, and beyond anything he had ever experienced. The bike's power flared effortlessly. Too easily. The massive machine had imposing presence on the track. Too bad the dual throttle was not working. Still, it was a bike well worth owning. But if he was going to win the race he had to get moving. He sprang away from the other riders and they kept their distance. The bike wanted to race, he could feel the rumbling motor increasing in fervency. The Hell Hound was built like a powerful cruiser but he rode it like a racer.

So far the winding track was a confined roadway of short inclines and brief sporadic tunnels. The enthusiastic spectators, not far from the barriers, stuck their arms through the fencing, dangerously close to the racers. Amid their catcalling, he tuned out the Announcer, who continued blaring over stimulated commentaries, and concentrated on the road. The sharp dips were sudden, and he flew for seconds, keeping the bike upright, preparing for that jolt of concrete under rubber.

As the bike hit the solid road and past other riders, Cloud headed away from the slower machines and towards the tail end of the faster bikes. The pack began to spread out, separating those who had the power to back their desire to win from those who lagged behind. He let a racer pass him, knowing he hadn't even given his bike full power yet. He felt oddly content, speeding in a lazy automaton, enjoying the thrumming machine under his body, in his control. He realized how much he would have liked a ride on the wide open road. Now he knew without a doubt. He really did want the bike.

Above the booming engines and hollering of spectators, he heard the Announcer, -THEY'RE COMING UP TO THE AIR TRACK

_Air track?_ Cloud could see the tail end of bikes in front. Speeding up to catch them, he gave the bike more power and leaned into the curve. Zooming past another rider, he geared up for the straight, and within seconds his bike left the road. It flew, powered by propulsion only, over what might have been water meters below. Head down, all his muscles clenching, Cloud was intent on willing the bike to the other side. The bike was heavy, but speed took them both over. Landing hard, he slid into a rigid turn, the momentum forcing him up the curled track within touching distance of fans.

Deciding he didn't want the majority of the pack right at his back end, he pumped the throttle as much as he thought sane to catch the front runners. His bike squealed along the curve and ahead, anticipating whatever the track had in store for him.

Keeping pace behind a handful of main contenders, Cloud reached the feet of the SPIRAL VORTEX - A colossal spiraling track he saw on entering the arena. The Spiral Vortex was like its namesake. The track wound up and up, at least four times. Was there anything Dio hadn't thought of? The man really was diabolical or utterly crazy. Whatever Cloud thought of the track, the spectators loved it.

The repetitive turns needed a careful pace. To relieve the speed on the curves, Cloud geared down and flexed the foot brake. Nothing happened. The bike continued on, not dropping any mileage. _Shit._ Squeezing the trigger brake with the slightest touch dampened the speed, momentarily. But if he were to press it with force the bike would go front over in a tumbling hulk. He kept wide to the railing, focusing on the severe turns at a speed normally too high for corners. Three other riders travelled alongside. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed Crusher and Canon sharing a shady glance. Parallel to Cloud, Canon raced up the center, while Crusher, a few meters behind, boxed in the third rider at the barrier.

The giant man's zealous bellow was followed by the smashing of metal.

Cloud gave him a swift glimpse over his shoulder. A rider and his bike crashed against the concrete barrier and rolled down the spiral slope. Crusher was still swinging his mighty steel plated club. Cloud looked across at Canon, staring his way with a smarmy grin, informing Cloud he knew exactly what had happened.

Finally reaching the top, Cloud hit the flat road in front of Canon. He watched racers ahead disappear over the lip of the road with a moment of dread. Bracing himself for what he suddenly feared, he leaned into the bike, and gripping it with his legs, he demanded more speed from the throttling machine. Lying low onto the hot fuel tank, he shot off the track, like a bullet splitting the air. Flying fast and down, - THE DROP-OFF - to what seemed to be the next leg of the track, he hoped. As he sailed sky high above road and spectators, he realized none of his friends knew where he was. What a shame they couldn't see him shooting through the air.

After what seemed like forever, the bike landed with a hefty thump on a rubbery turf, and he was burning down another spiraling track. Shorter, tighter, faster. His bike angled up the dished in sides, as he half flew half rode down the twisting track. He could hear Canon's rumbling cruiser screaming at his rear. At the end of the spiral, Cloud swerved, his studded tires hitting a dirt track. Out of surprise Cloud might have slowed, as it was he couldn't and he motored ahead, going full pelt onto this new unfamiliar surface. His bike found good purchase, commanding a path through the rifled dirt in a steady route. It was satisfying to know it rode the supple terrain with precision and balance.

Blasting out of the SAND TRAP - he left a curtain of sand in his wake, and drove onto solid surface again and downwards. Riding on the firm road was like riding on air. Untapped power surged under his body waiting to be released.

The dark opening of a tunnel loomed. So this was HELL'S DESCENT

Bikes slowed temporarily as lights flashed on and riders became more cautious. Luckily, he could see more than most in the unlit tunnel and charged on. Thundering, crackling engines reverberated in the confined space, piercing his eardrums, nearly deafening him. He propelled the bike closer to the end of the front pack that appeared to have dropped a gauge in speed.

A fiery blaze erupted in front of him. A bike flipped, sending the rider crashing into a wall. Cloud swung incisively within seconds of hitting the man. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched Canon aim a bulky shot gun at Cloud and his bike.

Criss-crossing the tunnel, Cloud charged the accelerator and streaked up and out from the tunnel. Before he knew it, he was under the glaring lights again and on another straight and racing to another ramp. Soaring over the free space, his bike firmly seized between his legs, and right hand still feeding the engine fuel, he reached back for his sword with his left hand. It was a stretch, but he didn't want to land with no acceleration, or defense, now that he knew how these racers were playing. The giant sword swished through the air as he spun it clear and he clutched it firmly as he thumped onto solid earth.

The Wutai cruiser and the Velocitor were among a handful of racers firing down the first leg of the track where he landed. Canon whizzed up hard behind him. Cloud glanced over his shoulder. He would have preferred the unpredictable rider be in front of him than at his back. Sure enough, the man was holding the converted modified shotgun.

A mini explosion lit up the track ahead. A bike and rider flipped skyward, becoming a wall of limbs and metal flying Cloud's way. He ramped over the fallen bike, missing the groaning man by mere inches. Even Canon swerved perilously to avoid the hazard that he created. There was nothing a sword could do if Cloud couldn't face his enemy, and there was no chance he was going to turn back to do that.

Travelling through the intermittent tunnels, Cloud leaned into the machine, tense and preparing for anything, presuming Canon was not going to cease his random firing. He watched the dark haired Wutai look over his shoulder, and twisting his torso, he hurled shurikens Cloud's way.

Cloud ducked his blond head low and the spinning weapons flew overhead.

Canon's gun spun out of his hand, hitting the wall, and his shriek echoed in the short tunnel. "You fucker!"

Cloud had a feeling the Wutai's intention was to hit the mad gun man all along. Hearing Canon racing up to him, he powered up for the Air Track. At least Canon no longer had a destructive weapon.

Soon they headed into the loops of the Vortex for the second time. Canon's bike, suddenly firing on ignited auxiliary boosters, tore ahead of Cloud, but not up the loop. Cloud soon realized why. Canon sat in front of Cloud's bike on the curve, trapping him in. Crusher's heavy flared out cruiser rumbled behind him, and sat in Cloud's blind spot. Up against the left side of the track, Cloud's sword arm became ineffective against him.

Crusher swung his club, smashing the brushed gold auxiliary muffler and cracking the back casing and tail light. _Sonofabitch!_ The fiend was trying to destroy the bike he was trying to win. Cloud's eyes flashed with violent fury.

Canon wheeled ahead, leaving Crusher a stupid thing to do in Cloud's opinion. Cloud glided the bulky bike, cutting across Crusher's path, and rode close to the inside turn. Flicking his sword to his other hand, he stretched it behind, the whole length hovering in reach of Crusher's bike. Only needing the tip, he brought it down with fluid strength, every bit of power he had, he used. The red and gold front fender and the wheel brace exploded in a mess of metal and debris, and the torn wheel bounced high and away. Crusher careened forward, crashing into the concrete curve, and what was left of the bike, smashed into the concrete barrier in a mini fireball.

"See how you like it." Cloud, not sparing the incapacitated man a glance, let his machine fall back to the outside curve of the loop once more.

Into the straight at the top of the Spiral, he gunned it for the Drop-Off, and for Canon, yards ahead of him. This time he was better prepared for the great leap through the air. Surely bikes could not keep landing and keep remaining in one piece. Machine rattling and clanging from the beating it just took, there was only a revving hum as he sailed through the air and down his tires drooping in expectation. This time he distributed his weight in a more even keel and lowered the front wheels to better ease into the landing, if that was at all possible. An easy landing meant colliding with the surface with as little jarring as possible and the suspension in-between not being destroyed.

There was no time to check engine damage in this race as he zoomed off down the Spiral. Engines screamed down the loop as he chased after the other riders with Canon currently in front of him.

He scored a trail into the folds of dirt on the narrow track. Finding used grooves in the rolls of sand, he managed to weave between the Wutai man and than Canon, before the two began physically clashing together from their bikes. Cloud spared them a brief glance before coming neck to neck with Shadow, leading the pack.

Abruptly, a sword was forced across his neck and shoulders, baring his way. The sharp edge firmly pressed into his skin, drawing blood. The unmoving angle of the blade as the bike sped pell-mell, exhibited the steady hand of the wielder.

Cloud scowled at Shadow, fire burning in his eyes and intensifying to a brighter blue. Shadow was stalling, knowing Cloud's bike could take the dirt track, while the racer bikes were not as swift on the sand. Resting his giant blade across his fuselage, Cloud let the edge hover over the Velocitor's handle bars, pointed towards the rider. The two were so close Cloud could see his reflection in the glinting visor. It was a standoff that was buying Shadow time to steal away when he reached the firmer road. Cloud just needed to get him away. Pressing a button, the hidden side compartments flung open. Shadow skidded to the barrier, attempting to recoup control of his swerving vehicle.

Riding between them, the monstrous Wutai bike rumbled with screeching speed and hurtled by onto the road, heading for Hell's Descent. Cloud chased him down towards the pitch black tunnel. Despite the darkness, the Wutai didn't slow and neither did Cloud as he pummeled full throttle to catch him. The finish line was within grasping distance. He wanted the bike more now than when he first laid eyes on it.

The cracking hum of the Velocitor was in his blind spot, as Shadow also tried for the lead. The Wutai sped out from the dark and neared the ramp. Cloud and Shadow, vying for second, hindered his back end, but there was only one position Cloud wanted.

From the bottom of the ramp was the familiar roar of Canon's bike, still in the game. Above the cracking of engines, he hollered, "You fuckers aren't gonna win it!"

Cloud glanced back at his grim sounding threat. Canon had removed what Cloud had thought to be a supped up engine part, and was aiming it up the ramp. Was that a rocket launcher? In flight there wasn't anything Cloud could do, except take the shot, and hope he was faster.

The missile whizzed past and must have hit Wutai's rear. The air lit up with a thunderous explosion, transforming the space above the ramp to a glowing fiery ball of heat, billowing into wafts of flames and acrid smoke.

On the other side, Wutai's bike flew high, before slamming into the concrete in a molten wreck, his body, still moving, somersaulted on the concrete further than his bike. Shadow holding on to the bars of his bike was propelled through the air. Losing all control, the bike crashed hard into the road, and he skidded along with it, his leg trapped underneath.

At the same time, Cloud, head down, his bike whining through the flames, flew over the Velocitor and landed in a sliding squeal, his leg ripping along the road. He used all his supernatural strength to keep the bike from careening and smashing into the barrier.

Canon sailed through the dissipating smoke, smirking like a fiend.

Cloud, his skin still steaming from the fire, attempted righting the leaning overpowered bike. He felt like he had no skin left on his leg, and his muscles contorted from the force he needed to get the bike balanced. In the corner of his mind, he sensed the crowds in the stands, going nuts, probably at the unfolding drama at the track's finish line.

Canon approached, his victory almost assured.

Shadow, still clutching his sword, had crawled from his bike and shoved his blade into Canon's thigh as he raced by.

The man howled in pain. "You crazy shit!" Blade embedded in his leg, his bike veered across the roadway, hitting the wall.

Cloud coasted over the finish line, his bike coming to a clattering uneasy stop, his leg screaming for relief. A giant shot of him on the big screen, looking dazed and grubby, made the crowds shriek with delight. After a few confused moments, Cloud punched the air with his fist, letting loose his own adrenaline fueled shout. He had won, but it never would have happened if...

A medical team arrived to assist Shadow who had collapsed back on the ground, his black suit torn and burnt. Another two medical staff worked over Wutai. While Canon was hauled off his bike and held by a man on either side of him.

Cloud kicked his stand down and watched, through the Officials, a swaggering, hairy half-naked, wannabe wrestler come towards him. Dio. The last person Cloud wanted to see. Was he coming to hug him?

Dio approached with open arms. "I knew it. It's my boy. He's _my_ champion!"

The shock of what just happened started to lessen, and feeling an uncontainable rush of rage, Cloud, sword in his left hand, shoved Dio out of the way and limped with determination over to Canon. Without a word, he punched him in the face, sending his head twisting to the side. Canon growled obscenities back, but he went limp in the hands of the men assisting him.

The big screen relayed every detail and the crowds couldn't get enough of the heated moment.

Too angry to speak, Cloud walked away, thinking he might kill him if given more time, or opportunity.

~~7~~

"How _much_?" Cloud didn't think he heard right.

Axel bounced up and down, clapping his hands together. "100,000 gil!"

Cloud was back in Axel's workshop, cleaning himself up and hoping Axel could do something to fix the bike to at least get him home. His wounds were also cleaned up and he even had a new pair of pants, but given that he was the Champion he could have had anything he wanted. He had to decline the Celebratory party though, much to Dio's disappointment. That man gave him the creeps, and he didn't want to spend more time with him than was necessary.

Cloud whistled at the amount. In effect that was how much the bike cost, but that was the deal. "You should have told me about the speed problem." He lifted an accusing brow at the happy man. "No foot brake."

The smile couldn't be wiped from the mechanic's face despite Cloud's scowl. "We had a deal. Would it have mattered anyway?"

Cloud stared, incredulously. "It wasn't worth nearly so much." And now the bike was beat up. Dents and scorch marks, not to mention what had happened to him. Thankfully, he had no remaining burn marks, due to his regenerative abilities. But still... he would have to tell Tifa. Maybe not straight away. Let her see the bike first, see what she thinks.

Axel lowered himself to look at the bike's chassis. "Wasn't it?"

It was faulty and the price was too high, but - that's not what the man was talking about.

"It saved you, didn't it?"

Cloud creased his brow in thought. The speed certainly carried him through, especially after nearly being blasted out of the race.

"You didn't buy this bike." Axel went back to clanging away at the dented metal, his voice muffled. "You earned this bike. That's a whole lot better, don't you think? I can fix all these burns and dents. Ah, that'll be a breeze. It'll look brand new."

Cloud remained silent. He was right in a round about greedy way. He smiled at the idea that he had tamed the Hell Hound. "I don't like that name much." Sitting on an upturned crate, he relaxed against the wall.

"Yeah, well, maybe it doesn't like it either. Anywho, you can choose your own name. He's yours now to do with as you wish."

~~7~~

The sunlight was diminishing from the garage's opening as the end of the day approached. After talking with Denzel for some time, Cloud wheeled himself back under Fenrir to finish off.

Denzel still sat, wide-eyed, excited and pumped to go racing even more now. His story wasn't a deterrent in the least. "Do you think you still would have won if you weren't blown up?"

"Hmm. Not sure." He had wondered about that himself. "Possibly."

"But still, Fenrir carried you through." Denzel stared at the bike, his face soft with admiration.

"Yeah, nothing was going to stop it. But because I had the strength to control the bike's propulsion I could right it and continue. A normal man would not have been so...lucky."

"Like Shadow?"

Cloud paused from his work. "I don't think Shadow was a normal man. But his actions turned the events at the end, that's for sure."

"You have some awesome things happen to you." He pouted. "Did you tell Tifa?"

Cloud opened his mouth to respond.

"Tell me what?" Tifa stood in the doorway, her dark hair shading her burgundy eyes that were sparkling despite her stern question. She stared down at Cloud expectantly.

Cloud peeked at her from under the carriage, his brows lifting. "About Fenrir. The race."

She folded her arms and tilted her head, a smile curving the corner of her mouth. "Ah, yes, that's right." After a pause, she made a powerful fist in front of her, and she seemed just as pumped as Denzel. "Next time you go, I'm coming and I'll ride pillion."

He stopped, mid-tightening of the clamp, and frowned at her. They had already had this discussion. It was far too dangerous. "That's not going to happen." Although he had to admit, having Tifa at his back could be helpful, it could be... the ride of his life. He resisted those thoughts before they took a serious shape.

"Admit it, Cloud." Tifa smiled and punched her fist forward, showing him exactly what she would be capable of. "It'll be fun."

If it wasn't so dangerous, it might be fun... but -

Denzel interrupted. "Why don't we go see these races?"

And that's why he avoided taking them to the Gold Saucer, in particular the races because Tifa had a terrible skill of persuasion. It was best to avoid it altogether.

"Yes, tell him why, Cloud." She teased with a playful grin.

Because if he went anywhere near the race, he would probably want to participate. He returned her smile. She didn't need to ask, she knew, all too well. "Maybe one day."

"Yes!" Denzel cried. "Maybe soon."

Tifa leaned on the door jam and crossed her arms once more "Maybe..." - and her lips blew Cloud an air kiss in satisfaction.

Cloud shook his head at her, "We can talk about that later." Although, he would conveniently forget about it, and hope she did the same. He continued looking up at her, hoping to sound convincing. "If you saw the race you may rethink wanting to be in it."

"True, you can be pretty persuasive." She tapped her finger on her lips and looked away thoughtfully. "_Or,_ I might want to be in it even more."

Cloud grunted, avoiding her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere till I fix this." Abandoning the tools, he used the good old fashioned way. His fingers.

"Hurry up than. I want you both to wash up and come in for dinner." Her work in the garage complete, she turned and left.

"So that's the guy who comes in once in awhile." Denzel watched him thoughtfully. "Axel."

"Yep. That's him." Cloud stopped twisting and cocked his head to look at Denzel. "Never do a deal with that guy. It's not as if he needs any gil."

Denzel ducked his head. "Oh. Okay."

"He's asked you something, hasn't he?" Cloud shook his head.

"Ah, not really." The young man shrugged. "He just said if I wanted to learn motor mechanics he could teach me. If I work for him."

"Okay, just ask me first." Cloud went back to the irritating piece of machine.

Denzel nodded. He suddenly said, as if changing the subject, "Hey, one of your swords is called Shadow."

Cloud gave a relaxed sigh. The piece glided on and stuck. "That's right."

Denzel was quiet as Cloud pushed himself out from the bike. Denzel eventually spoke. "How did you get those swords anyway and why did you name your bike Fenrir?"

Wiping his hands on an already dirty towel, Cloud smiled. "Ah, that's another story."

~~7~~

[the note]

_Axel, my friend. Do me a favor. Set this kid up with some good wheels. He doesn't say much, but I get the feeling he's been through a rough time and needs a break. Give him a good deal._

_Not that damn machine, the Hell Hound!_

_Good luck in the Champ race. Sal_


	3. 7th Heaven: Surprise Vacation

This story and the following one (that I will be posting soonish) might be slightly confusing as they are linked to my short stories _"Beyond Words"_ and _"The Only One"_ These stories are not on this site but can be found on deviantART via my profile page, if you are interested. With this Im just having some fun, and its quite a challenge for me to do random ramblings like this. haha

Set a few weeks after AC/C, preceding _Beyond Words_, and fitting within _The Only One,_ and under the heading,** It Happened Like this, Time with the Kids**

For those following **The Promised Land,** I'm going away for a week! but I hope to make some notes on the next chap, 36

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy. Please leave something, that would be great

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><p><strong>Surprise Vacation<strong>

Barrett spent a good hour drinking and chatting with Tifa at the bar at 7th Heaven. He grizzled at Tifa that he wasn't able to see Marlene and Denzel who happened to be out with a couple of friends. Tifa's reprimand, 'if you didn't make unannounced visits than they would be better prepared' did nothing to stop his complaining. After his third beer he was off again, leaving her with vague details about picking the kids up in a few days time for a surprise vacation.

After he left, she began preparing for the night-time customers as well as her family's own dinner with her thoughts becoming a pre-occupied mess as the afternoon progressed. Switching from one concern to another, her thoughts went from running the bar minus the children's help, to being alone with Cloud, amid those awkward silences and her growing shyness in his presence, to Barrett looking after the kids for too weeks. _Two weeks?! Did he really say that long? _Could Barrett care for children for that length of time, she had to wonder. Maybe it really wasn't that wise...

Marlene and Denzel scurried in later than expected but in enough time to get washed up for dinner. Cloud arrived earlier than he said, and she was glad he could shower in time and come downstairs with the kids. All three waited for her at one of the booths by the window, their family table. Tifa had decided they needed one, because it made 7th Heaven more like a home and less like a tavern. From the kitchen she could hear their faint tones, talking about their day. It reminded her of the early days at the tavern and it warmed her heart to be like that once more. Still, she couldn't shake a niggling doubt that perhaps it wouldn't last.

She carried a huge tray of plates, wraps, seasoned chicken and fresh ingredients for fillings to the table. "It's 'Do it yourself' night," she sang, happily. It was met with squeals of delight from the kids and a pleased smile from Cloud, and she was just as happy she didn't need to cook so much. They could put anything in them and make them as fat as they liked, and for one growing boy maybe too fat. She watched Denzel overstuff his with layers of grated cheese as if he was starving to death. "There's plenty there, Denzel." He already had his mouth full and the sauce dribbling out onto his plate. After the scurry of hands reaching for wraps and condiments had been sated and all were merrily consuming their 'creations' Tifa swallowed and started, "Barrett was here this morning—"

"Daddy!" Marlene was sitting up on her knees on the plush cushions so she could reach the food, and she interrupted with a pout on her face. "Will he be back later?"

"No, he had some business to do at WRO." Tifa slowly bit another mouthful and chewed. "But he's coming back on thursday. He's going to take you and Denzel on a vacation." She watched the children's faces' brighten, and she briefly glanced at Cloud's reaction. He was occupied with his food, but she was sure she saw some spark in his eyes, or maybe that was fear.

Marlene threw her fist in the air and her wrap drooped open. "Hooray!"

"Awesome!" Denzel mumbled, his mouth bulging, and he looked at Tifa, "you're coming with us?"

It was good to see Denzel so happy and full of life and energy. He was like a different boy since being healed, she hardly knew him. Where once he was quiet and almost reserved, now he talked non-stop when he got the chance, and all the questions he asked nearly drove her to distraction, and he seemed to remember everything about everyone. "No, sweetie, not this time. I can't afford to leave the bar."

"Cloud can come though?" Denzel stared at Cloud, putting him on the spot.

Cloud looked up and opened his mouth to speak. "I wo—"

Marlene shook her head sternly and replied, "No, Cloud can't come, he has to look after Tifa." Her wide brown eyes darted between Cloud and Tifa as if she was the mature adult directing the conversation.

Tifa willed herself not to blush at the child's sweet innocent remark that was coming way too close to how she wanted it to be.

Marlene continued, "Like daddy used to look after Tifa in the old seventh Heaven till Cloud came."

On second thought it was probably not a good idea to let Marlene have her way with the discussion. Tifa raised her voice. "Wai—"

"That's right." Cloud swallowed quickly and spoke. "Tifa can't stay here alone." He gave her the barest skim of his perceptive blue eyes that seemed to know what she was thinking, maybe even what she was worried about. But -Cloud had never been that insightful?

"I—" Tifa started again. Surely she could speak for herself.

"Uncle Barrett looked after _you_?!" Denzel cried wide-eyed at Tifa.

Why was that surprising, she had to wonder. Of course, Denzel had seen her fight monsters and he had seen her train as well. She shrugged her shoulders at him in resignation and gave a lopsided smile. Back than it was true, and Denzel was right, she never really needed protection, not of a physical nature anyway. What she needed was a guard on her crippling depression.

Marlene answered him, with a proud voice, "Daddy was the biggest, meanest man in the slums and no one dare come near Tifa or me!"

Denzel piled food into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten ever and tried to speak. "And than Cloud came?"

Tifa ate quietly, wondering how she was going to divert the conversation before it veered into perilous waters. With Marlene anything could be said and anything was possible. That child knew far too much than what was good for her to know. Damn how much _did_she know? Perhaps she should leave the table altogether, maybe they needed something, anything from the kitchen.

Marlene nodded; the two of them quite content conversing with each other about stuff that happened years ago to grown adults. "Daddy didn't like Cloud at all at first, but he let him hang around only 'cuz Tifa liked him—"

"Marlene, that's because Cloud was my friend," Tifa cried with sudden anxiety and growing fear, because just that simple statement underlined her deep attraction to Cloud, even back than. Surely Marlene couldn't have sensed that, at that age?

Cloud gulped his juice down and cleared his throat. "Barrett is _still_the biggest, meanest, baddest man around. And it's true, we didn't get on. We still don't get on sometimes. We're opposites."

Marlene nodded in understanding. "You don't say much and daddy talks a lot."

Denzel added, "And he's loud."

Cloud looked at them both with a stern brow. "Barrett has a short fuse, so you better watch yourselves."

Tifa leaned towards them, hoping to scare them into being on their best behavior. Who knows how Barrett would react to mischievous children. "So you'll have to listen to what he says and be good while you're away."

"If you're lucky, or maybe unlucky," Cloud grinned at his own humor, "he'll tell you some of his war stories."

Denzel's innocent face lit up with excitement. "War stories?"

"But whatever he tells you, don't believe his story about the time he killed a Zolom singlehandedly." Cloud took a bite of his overfull wrap.

Tifa gave a laugh in memory. Barrett's stories were always over exaggerated. Some of them she had to wonder if he made them up altogether because she couldn't recall some of the things he said happening to them at all.

"Yeah, I think I know that one," Marlene continued chewing, suddenly not that interested.

Denzel ogled Cloud, "What's a Zolom?"

Cloud said, "A monstrous snake creature. There's no way he could kill it himself, if that's what he tells you."

Tifa took up the story and she reminisced as she put herself back all those years ago, and she spoke more to Cloud than the children. "He was lying nearly completely under the thing's swishing back end—"

Cloud took over her story, "one wallop away from death and we're trying to get him out and retreat, and he's heaving, 'more materia, yo' foo's, give it more materia!'" He finished in a deep voice, mimicking the bigger man's baritone.

Marlene peeled with giggles and Denzel howled with laughter at Cloud's imitation.

"That's right," Tifa brightened at the funny recollection, although not funny at the time. Covered with bruises and bleeding gashes, they kept at it. Adrenaline had kept them going in that crucial moment and faith in each other's abilities. "I'm trying to drag him away and Cloud is distracting the snake-thing, meanwhile Aeris is pouring Healing materia into Barrett. I think Nanaki was on the other side," she stated thoughtfully.

Cloud had a smile on his face, despite Aeris' name being mentioned, "and Yuffie was behind me trying to cast some weird spell, and Barrett's shouting his bleeding chest out." He put his best Barrett voice on, now aware of how much it made the kids laugh, "'Don't yos' pull me out, you spineless mogs, I'm going to kill that fu—sucker if it's the last thing I do." He finished with a quick look at Tifa and a restrained grin.

Grinning broadly, she smiled at him and the kids. Marlene responded in her grown up voice, "It's alright Cloud, I know what he probably said."

Denzel wide-eyed and bottom lip dangling, asked, "Did you kill it?"

"Sure did."

Tifa added, "Barrett's not one to back down."

"It must have been heaps of fun!" Denzel cried.

Cloud gave him a tight smile. "It had its moments." His shining blue eyes looked to Tifa for affirmation.

"I'm not sure I'd describe it like that at the time," Tifa said to Denzel. They were on the run most of the time, never knowing where they were going to spend the next night or what they were going to face. Never adequate sleep nor the best food, and never able to trust anyone. No matter how she viewed it, the memories were strong and lasting.

"You must be bored now," Denzel commented without a care as he took a third wrap.

Tifa gave him a deep drawn-out sigh. Wasn't it only a few weeks ago they were attacked by Jenova remnants and a giant summoned monster?

"We have you kids, how can we get bored?" Cloud's face was a mask of serious consideration.

Marlene gave him a dazzling smile. "Yes, you have us. Who needs monsters, right?"

Cloud scratched his chin, his brow creasing with puzzlement in an attempt to figure out if she was joking or not. A spontaneous giggle erupted from Tifa's throat, and she nearly choked on her mouthful of food.

Denzel said, "What will you do when we're gone?"

"Uhm," Tifa raised her eyes to the ceiling, her mind racing for some answer that wouldn't lead to more questions. "Work, I guess..."

"I don't know, what do you think we should do?" Cloud's mouth was straight but his eyes sparkled with mirth.

Denzel considered him and the corners of his eyes crimped with deliberation. "Maybe you could take Tifa for a ride."

Of course Denzel would suggest that, it was the very thing he enjoyed and wanted to do. Tifa tilted her head in thought, it wasn't a bad idea, she'd give the kid that.

Cloud nodded, and excluding Tifa from the discussion, he said, "Do you think she'd like that?"

"For sure!"

"What else do you think Tifa would like to do?" A small grin suddenly appeared and he gave Tifa an engaging glance that melted her heart. She half wondered if he was actually sourcing the boy for information on her likes. Thank Gaia, Denzel would have no idea what she really wanted to do.

Denzel looked at Tifa and spoke as if he knew exactly what she wanted. "Tifa would like cherry-chocolate ice-cream after she goes to the playground."

"The playground, eh?" now Cloud afforded Tifa a teasing smirk.

Tifa shook her head at them, thinking it best not to answer at all.

"Maybe we can go for ice-cream, I don't know about the playground..." Cloud's blue gaze rested on the child who had been quiet, absorbed in the conversation. "What do you think Marlene?"

Unlike questioning Denzel, Marlene could be dangerous. Her mouth pressed up in deep concentration and Cloud fidgeted in his chair at her prolonged silence. Tifa knew she was working up something important to say, as if she had spent days thinking about it, and she expected Cloud was thinking the same thing. Tifa had a shooting desire to bolt to the kitchen while she had the chance.

Finally after swallowing a mouthful of food, she studied Cloud dead in the eye and said, "Tifa wants to have fun. A lot of fun. _You _need to make her laugh." She remonstrated to Cloud and pointed at his chest as if somehow it was his fault and responsibility to make her have a good time.

Everything in Tifa pricked up in irritation and she sat erect ready to protest. It wasn't true, she did laugh, sometimes and… and… it wasn't her that didn't laugh, it was Cloud. "What? I do lau—"

Without turning his head, Cloud gave her the barest glance and he responded seriously to Marlene's comment, before Tifa could speak. "You think I need to make Tifa laugh?"

Marlene gave repeated big fast nods of her head.

Cloud rubbed his chin in contemplation while Tifa stared at him and the children, her mouth open at their dissection of her needs.

Denzel piped up, "adults don't laugh, not like kids, and I know Tifa is hard to get laughing. She won't laugh at animals, even cute frogs in the bed."

Marlene stared at him, her face reddening with disgust and she sniffed, her nose in the air. "That's because it's not funny."

"But...it was friendly, and was going to keep you company," Denzel whined.

Cloud's eyes widened and his voice croaked with a chuckle. "A frog?! In whose bed?"

"Mine!" Tifa's voice was strong and still had the underlying tones of reprimand, as she recalled the slimy thing crawling against her lower back. "At night. Late. Not funny."

Cloud burst into laughter and didn't try to restrain it.

Tifa crossed her arms, her lips twitching with a grin. "Well, Cloud Strife, I'd like to see how you would react." Probably a lot more civilized than her, no screaming from him, or rushing around with a pillow in hysterics trying to destroy the 'thing'. No, he 'Warrior-man' would probably get his sword, or two, and destroy it _and_ the bed without a word, silently. No shame in that and no one knowing about it. "Yes, I'd like to see that. Maybe that would make me laugh."

Cloud raised his palms in surrender and he looked at the kids, especially Denzel, watching him with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Okay, frogs are not allowed, or bugs, or any other thing that moves."

Denzel's shoulders drooped in a forlorn slump. "Ahww—"

Marlene pushed his shoulder to annoy him. "I know! Sometimes grownups laugh at aunt Yuffie."

"She makes me laugh too." Denzel's face lightened at the mention of the young woman.

"That crazy ninja makes everyone laugh," Cloud added, "although I don't think she intends to. But I don't think we'll be asking her over."

_Thank goodness._ Having Yuffie around when Tifa was feeling so sensitive to any pestering over her love-life was begging for trouble. Tifa smiled, hoping the awkward discussion had passed when Denzel turned to her and looking at her directly, asked without any guile, "What _would _make you smile, Tifa?"

Why did it have to be that question? She groaned inside and her heart pounded into her mouth at Cloud's beautiful turquoise eyes, staring... waiting for some answer, and his lips, the merest curve, transforming into a curious smile. The very thing that would make her smile was sitting right before her. _You, you make me smile, Cloud..._"I... really don't know..." Her mouth struggled with revealing her inner thoughts, and unable to think of anything but him right than, she lied. With all eyes turned to her, she felt defensive, angry even. "I think I smile as much as everyone else when there's something funny," she finished sharply, "What makes you smile, Cloud?"

His blue gaze dropped from her and his face became a mask, hiding his true thoughts, but his answer was genuine, "The kids make me laugh."

Tifa gulped, wanting to suck her harsh words all up. She murmured, suddenly realizing how tangled her thoughts and heart were over him, everything else was overshadowed by his very presence, it was making her irrational. "They make me smile too." She quickly stacked the empty plates and left the table, before anyone could see her pained expression and her moistened eyes. As she went she heard Cloud say, and he said it loud enough he must have known she would hear. "You're right, Tifa does need to laugh." His remark might have made her smile in itself, but it was so true, she wanted to cry.


	4. 7th Heaven: The Bet

Another scene to fit within my other short stories (found on deviantART) This piece should be able to stand alone. I hope! Im beginning to wonder if I can squeeze in a 'yo foos' with every short I write! haha. Never written for two of these characters, so it was interesting to see what would happen. Barrett takes Marlene and Denzel on a holiday as per the previous chapter.

For all regular readers of **The Promised Land**, I will be away for a week. Good for me, but not so much for those waiting for the next chapter! I will try to make notes and do some scribbles. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy this!

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><p><strong>~~ TIME WITH THE KIDS ~~<strong>

**The Bet**

Barrett found Cid standing on the upper deck at the controls of his new ship, The Shera, gazing through the expansive windows at the patches of pale sky between billowing clouds. He came to stand beside his good old friend and he pushed a mug of black tea into him, forcing Cid to take hold. Cid removed the unlit cigarette hanging from his lip to sip the warm liquid. He made a face and plunked it down on the control panel with a rough bang. "Cripes, Barrett, that's a strong shot of whiskey."

Barrett grunted a short chuckle. "Thought you'd need it."

Cid squinted one eye and observed him, leaning his full weight against the railing. "You're the one who needs it."

Barrett patted one of his pant pockets, and through the material a solid square object bulged. "I'm set, but I need my head turned on." No, his juice would come in handy later, but right now…

"It's kinda sudden, think you're up for it?" With one long scrap of a match, Cid lit his cigarette.

'Course he was, Barrett said to himself, it was just looking after children right? He'd looked after Marlene before, given that she was younger then but damn, how hard could it be anyway. "I've supervised men that get up to more trouble than kids. Easy as riding a chocobo."

Cid guffawed at him. "Yeah, when you know how."

"Besides, I told Shera," Barrett told him, cheering himself up. Admittedly, he needed some help, and Shera was a friend and the most down to earth person he knew.

Smoke wafted around Cid's face, nearly obscuring his sly smirk. "I get it. You roped Shera into helping you. And she'd do it, too."

"And why not, she likes the kids," Barrett said in his defense.

"I'm surprised Tifa let you take the two of them."

Barrett cleared his throat. He was as shocked as him. It was too easy, but considering what her expectations of the fortnight were, it shouldn't be a surprise. "She needed a break. Anyhow, she and Cloud needed to… you know," he finished roughly, wondering how much he could admit.

"Those two lovebirds having a dirty weekend," Cid said with a knowing grin, the cigarette flicking as he spoke.

"For Tifa's sake, I hope so." Barrett eyed Cid's drink, thinking he should have made one for himself. Maybe _he was_ going to need it.

Cid creased his brow and eyed him. "You mean..."

"Yep. It's about time those two got together." Barrett stretched his arm along the polished silver railing. "And now's the time, with a helping hand," his laughter echoed around the glass and steel cabin.

Cid joined him in the amusement. "Betcha it takes 'em more than a week."

Barrett shook his head. "Bet fifty it takes 'em three nights." If Cloud was any sort of man that appreciated a good woman and a sexy one than it shouldn't take long at all; not in Barrett's book anyway. Cid didn't know what Tifa was up to and that gave Barrett the advantage. He chuckled as he dug around for some gil, and he piled it on the panel.

"You serious?" Cid lifted his brow, and brought out a handful of money and added it to the stack. "It's Cloud we're talking 'bout here, right? I know he's fast but not that _fast_."

"We'll see—"

Behind them, the door to the large cockpit whooshed open and Yuffie flew in and dived for the first one she could get her hands on. Pulling on Cid's arm, she whined, "Quick, Cid, hide me, pretend I'm not here!"

Cid raised his brow and leaned away from her grasp. "Geez, toughen up kid, I'm not playing your games—"

Yuffie pleaded and swung on his arm, "Ci-i-i-i-d—"

Barrett folded his arm and grunted out, "it'll teach ya for getting them going. Playing ninja games."

Marlene and Denzel spilled through the doorway, shouting and squealing, and eyeing Yuffie, they made straight for her. The two children were all over her, yanking her arms and holding them. Cid scraped her hands off his arm and took a step back out of their radius. Denzel held her arms while Marlene tickled her ribs and bare lower back. Yuffie doubled over in a type of defense, only to crumple to the floor, shrieking and howling with painful laughter, and begging for them to stop. Marlene and Denzel ignored her cries, and laughing as much as her, they sat on her and tickled her with more force.

"Stop—stop –" Yuffie cried between gut wrenching giggles, "Ninjas—don't- tickle. Barrett!"

Barrett laughed along with the kids and watched Yuffie wriggling away from them. Cid stepped well away from the action. "Sheez, kids, give it a break. That screaming's gonna bust my head. There ain't enough whiskey for this." Despite his words, he smirked at the three.

Marlene and Denzel stood, and still gripping Yuffie's arms they hauled her to her feet. Yuffie untangled herself from them and panting hard, she gripped her sides, a sour look on her face. Her eyes quickly went to the gil laying on the controls, and they lit up with wonder. She scanned Barrett and Cid's faces, and said, "oOoh, you guys are betting on something?"

Denzel looked between the two male adults, his eyes expanding with curiosity. "What are you betting?"

Cid placed a gloved hand on the boy's head, and his other held his cig. "We're betting whether you have your own room when you get back home."

Denzel's bottom lip quivered and his eyes misted over. "Cloud's leaving?"

Marlene stared, her face paling, and her brown eyes turning to saucers, she looked ready to cry. Yuffie had a similar expression, but it soon turned to an angry glare, and hands on her waist, she drilled her stare into Cid. "Cloud's leaving again?! If he does_, I'm_ going after him this time!"

Barrett cried, with his hand waving in the air, "Yo foo's, he's not going anywhere! Cid, stop scaring 'em."

Denzel squinted at them with a dubious stare. "What do you mean?"

"Pfft," Cid brushed them all off with a flick of his cigarette in annoyance. "Shit, paranoid bunch. Cloud's a free spirit, he can do whatever the fuck he likes anyways."

All eyes were intent on him and his remark, and a gaping shocked silence ensued. Barrett gave a single grunt of denial. Cid gazed down at the kid's faces, a vision of sorrow, and he barked, "Ah, alright, don't cry. He ain't goin' no-where," he tried a more soothing tone. "It's about being in love, people, love!"

"Ooh," Yuffie expired a long breath, "That changes everything."

"Cloud's not leaving?" Denzel asked him, his face still pale from the shock.

"Nah, kiddo," Cid gave him a crooked smile.

"And you're betting they're gonna fall in love?" Denzel carried on.

Yuffie interrupted, "I bet it takes two weeks, if it even happens!"

Cid answered her gruffly, "Money down." He pointed to the gil on the panel.

She patted her shorts. "I don't have any right now..."

"Same old story..." Cid griped. "No money, no winnings."

Denzel blinked up at Yuffie and Cid, and was about to speak, but Marlene stepped forward and with her hands in a fluster, she cried, making herself heard, "_But_ Cloud already loves Tifa!"

Barrett chuckled, "Marlene's on the money." The simplicity of children amazed him. She turned and gave him a smug smile.

"Alrighty than, we got Barrett after three days, I say a week, Yuffie two, if she pays up, and Marlene says right now," Cid grinned at them all, "Denzel?"

"My own room?" Denzel started.

"Cid!" Barrett barked.

"Denzel doesn't care as 'long as Cloud doesn't go anywhere," Cid went on and he looked at Barrett. "How we gonna prove all this anyway?"

Barrett shrugged. "We'll ring Tifa tomorrow and call her every day." He smiled with a wicked gleam in his eyes, and said, "Won't even need to ask her. I'll be able to tell."

The two children looked between them both with bewilderment, and even Yuffie looked puzzled.

Barrett stepped up to the three and loomed over them, staring them down with a commanding glare. "Listen up you kids, don't ever tell Cloud or Tifa any of this, about the love thing or the betting, you got that?"

Marlene and Denzel stared up at him with gob smacked expressions, having no real idea of what the secret was in the first place, except they were taking bets on whether Cloud and Tifa were in love. Yuffie, arms folded, tilted her head and furrowed her brow, darkly. "It'll cost ya."

Cid barked back, "Not as much as what it'll cost you." He looked at the kids and instructed, "Kids, hold her down while _I_ tickle her, man-style."

"Old man!" Yuffie screamed, moving from him and clutching her sides again, "Nooo! Alright than, I won't tell, but only for Cloud and Tifa!"

"That's the spirit." Cid reached out and landed a heavy hand on her shoulder, attempting to draw her close.

She reeled back, her hands up, guarding herself and she watched him with squinting eyes. "Not this time, Cid!"

Cid laughed and threw his hands in the air. "Ah, just messing with ya." He cocked his head at Barrett. "Whadya' think, we set Yuffie up next?"

Barrett scratched his chin eyeing Yuffie, still in her defensive stance, up and down. "Mmm, see what I can do—"

"Barrett?! Don't you dare!" she shrieked, "I'll tell Tifa."

"Maybe, a science geek," Barrett continued, and he chuckled at Yuffie's eyes turning to smoldering brown.

"I can see Yuf with a speed head wutai biker!" Cid chuckled. "Or someone older, a lot older-"

Yuffie glared at him, and shouted, "No way, you old perve!"

"Sheesh, not me," Cid shot back.

"Who?" Yuffie's pale face reddened, and she squealed, "Not him! Don't you dare say anything to him." She went on, her voice increasing in volume, "You don't know the kinda guys I like," she finished with a shout, "And you'll never know!"

Marlene turned on the two men in Yuffie's defense, and said, "You can't find Yuffie love. She's got to find it herself."

Cid and Barrett laughed, and Barrett answered, "Yeah, yeah, we'll see one day. But Yuffie, if you ever find the guy you like, we'll check him out and see if he's good enough for you."

Cid took a long drag and spoke with some affection. "That's right, kid. He'll have to pass the 'old man' check."

Yuffie relaxed her arms and stared at the two of them, and their statement took some moments to register before a mix of emotions crossed her face. "Ooh, that's sweet, you guys care about the man I like," and she stepped closer, her hands lifting in energetic expression "—hang on, _your_ check?! No way!"

"Spot on. And if he's not, than we'll let him know," Cid told her, "We'll look out for you, don't you worry."

Her eyes softened and her mouth hung open, and she wiped an invisible tear. "You really care..."

Denzel took her hand and squeezed it, and said with innocence, "There'll be someone who likes you, Yuffie." His remark was received with easy chuckles. "We like you."

"Yeah, thanks Denzel," Yuffie replied with a hint of dryness, "thanks alot."


	5. 7th Heaven: Beyond Words

Cloud wants Tifa but can't find the words. But it's not words that he really needs, it's something more physical and primal to tip him over the edge.

My take on their first time.

**Set a couple of months after AC/C. Part 1/3 (Tifa's POV & The Morning After, to come) Fits between The Bet & Surprise Vacation**

a couple of people pmed me asking when I was going to do this scene on this site. As most probably know, I did a version but its not allowed to be posted on this site. This is a censored version which I discovered was hard for me write, because I'm so entrenched in showing the scene. Some sections I've just left out. (Hope it makes sense!) I can't tell if its too strong for some. Im just too old to be affected by this sort of stuff! My apologizes if it is in some parts. Please leave an opinion. The gist of it is in the emotions and the dialogue. **Note: Mature suggestive language**

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><p><strong>~ BEYOND WORDS ~<strong>

Cloud had to tell Tifa how she made him feel. That every time he saw her, he desired her, to touch her and draw her close. Every time she spoke to him, he was tongue-tied and lost in her warm gaze. The longer he didn't speak his thoughts, the harder it became to say anything. _S_peak from your heart, not from your head. But...__ the words from his heart were an indefinable gush of emotions flowing into words that never seemed adequate to describe what he was feeling...and his head, made his words rigid, controlled,and over think every detail. And it didn't help at all that the one he wanted to speak to was just as shy as him.

Late afternoon, Cloud finally entered the garage of 7th Heaven. Away since yesterday, he had spent hours on the road in his rush to get back home. Instead of feeling the usual weariness, there was a mounting exhilaration that had been firing up his muscles during the long ride back. He had never felt this excited _or_ this nervous to get home.

Dusty and travel worn, he entered the unusually quiet bar. He wondered if Tifa was even there. Of course, it had more to do with the absence of Marlene and Denzel, who had left that morning with Barret for a vacation. Life at 7th Heaven was going to feel strange without them. No high-pitched giggling, or kids helping him with his routes, no-one to distract him, no-one to monopolize the conversation, or pull on his hand, begging for his attention, or Tifa's. Not that he minded it. Since coming back it had been nice to have the company. Yet the impending 'break' had been stewing in his mind since it was arranged by Barret a few days ago. For the first time, he and Tifa would be alone. For two weeks. There was no running away. He had to say something. No wonder he felt anxious.

Hearing Tifa in the kitchen, his stomach lurched with nerves, and he questioned whether he should just go upstairs or stop and chat. Why was he edgy about talking to her now? He had been coming home for a few weeks now, ever since he came back to live. Today was no different to any of the other days except... this week it would be blatantly apparent that something had to change between them. He could no longer deny his need of her. Too much time had passed between them with nothing being confessed. He wanted her, that was simple, and he could tell that to himself, but telling her, that was a mountain he was struggling to climb.

Tifa came out of the kitchen as he stopped at the bar. Wearing a blue checked apron, she smiled at him, while wiping her hands on a towel. Her dark hair was escaping from its bundle at the top of her head and her cheeks were pink from working in the heat of the kitchen. Cloud took a sharp breath. Even in muck about clothes she looked pretty. He suspected she would look beautiful if she were clothed in an old sack.

"You're back!" There was an excited chirp in her voice, and another strand of hair fell over her eyes shimmering with warmth.

"Yeah, finally. How did the kids go?"

"They were hyped up and rearing to go. But that was Barret's fault. He bought them lollies for the trip." She laughed. The happy sound was something he had missed, and it was heartening to hear her so bubbly. She said, "I'll miss them, but it will be nice not to have to look after them."

Two weeks, just him and Tifa. His throat was dry and his heart was already pounding. "Barret doesn't know what he's in for."

"Do you have much on this week?" She twisted the dishtowel, absently, and tilted her head, her eyes shaded by her delicate fringe.

The lingering gaze of her wine-tinted eyes made him flushed, and his groin tingle. Surely she wouldn't be so provocative on purpose? "No." He had deliberately declined all long trips. "Just a couple of local jobs."

Her smile widened, brightening her eyes, innocently watching him. "Maybe we could do something..."

He nodded, his blond fringe shielding his evasive eyes. "Yeah, maybe we could…" He was still trying to wrack his brain over what they could do. Anything that would help him talk to Tifa would be perfect, but so far... Romance had never been his thing.

"We can talk about that tomorrow." She glanced at the clock. "Oh, no! You go and shower, and then eat, while I finish here and then my turn." She must have noticed his startled look and said in a rush, "You'll help me tonight, won't you?" Her eyes were practically begging him as she leaned across the counter.

Noise and people, especially drunk people, were two things that grated on his nerves. "Sure." But for Tifa, there was nothing we wouldn't do.

"I've got Rowan coming to help out too since my little helpers are gone."

Rowan was the young man Tifa employed when Cloud had left 7th Heaven. He worked in the kitchen on weekend nights, while Tifa gave her attention to bar work and customers. Cloud thought he was immature and brash, but he tolerated him because Tifa for some reason thought he was reliable and a good worker. "I'll go get cleaned up than."

Cloud came back downstairs in a black sleeveless t-shirt and jeans. As relaxed as he could get. Rowan was already in the kitchen, rattling plates and finishing food prep, and whatever else he did in there. He came out with a tray of glasses to set behind the bar. Rowan wouldn't have been more than twenty. He was a good looking guy if you liked the messy type, his dark hair, tied at his neck, straggled down the back of his red shirt imprinted with black thorny roses. A presumptuous look was in his eyes that set Cloud on edge. To add to his annoying personality, he was chatty. Too outspoken in Cloud's opinion.

Cloud took the plate of food Tifa had left for him and looked the young man over with a critical eye, as he walked back to the bar to sit in his usual place. Since coming back, Cloud had already formed the habit of sitting on the same stool, same place at the end of the bar where Tifa came out to serve customers. If he wasn't there, he was in the booth, which Tifa called 'The Family' table.

Rowan stacked the trays with a great deal of unnecessary noise, and asked while doing it, "You here tonight?"

His comment, like Rowan, bugged the hell out of him. "I live here." Why shouldn't he be here?

"Oh, yeah, that's right. You're living here now." He busied himself at the counter.

Cloud was disliking him more and more. How did Tifa get on with him?

Rowan went off to the kitchen, leaving Cloud sitting at the bar, finishing his hot meal and flicking through a paper he had no interest in and wondering if he should just go hang in the garage for awhile when he finally heard Tifa on the landing. The sight of her made him gasp like a speechless fool, like an adolescent seeing a gorgeous woman for the first time. But not an ordinary woman, more like a centerfold model in the flesh, except it was Tifa.

_Tifa?_ Even in the early years she had not dressed in such a blatant and evocative manner. Her white halter top came down in a V, exposing a voluptuous cleavage of firm tender flesh, and covering enough to leave room for the imagination. The mid-drift top accentuated her flat bare stomach, well-toned from hours of working out. A small leather skirt held with a red belt, sat snugly on her curvaceous hips. His eyes lingered on her statuesque legs that went on and on to red sandal wedges. Silver bangles drew attention to her shapely slender arms, and she lifted one, tucking her hair behind her ear with a childlike timidity Cloud rarely saw in her. While her eyes were down, he unashamedly admired her glossy blood-red lips and shaded eyes. The red ribbon was absent from her arm. Pondering why she had forgotten it, he touched his own upper arm, remembering he had not put his on either.

"Holy schmooly!" Rowan cried, his mouth agape as he brazenly ogled Tifa. "You look darn sexalicious!"

Cloud, his fists clamping on the bench, turned an angry glare at the obnoxious kid, wanting to do a lot more than that.

Tifa gave a short nervous laugh. "Thanks, Rowan." She blushed and her eyes danced between him and Cloud, not looking at either of them directly. "I'm going to open up now."

_Dressed like that? _Breathless, his heart still racing, he had nothing to say to Tifa, only a sudden awareness of what he wanted to _do._ Mesmerized by her walking past him, he swiveled to watch her hips swing and her hair sway over her torso. Even from behind, she looked sexy. _Now what am I going to say to her?_

The night was busy as usual, but Tifa managed the orders and helped Rowan in the kitchen when she could. Cloud did whatever Tifa told him to, mainly clearing tables and pouring drinks. Even he was getting good at that, but if Denzel could do it at ten, surely he could manage it too. But tonight he could have been pouring bleach for all he knew or cared. He only had eyes for Tifa, and he trailed her with them everywhere she went, not wanting to miss one detail of her sensuous gyrations. He was not pleased to discover that near everyone in the tavern were also tracking Tifa with their gazes. As the evening progressed, the attention she was receiving became more prevalent, and more anger inducing for Cloud.

With her back to him, she took an order. The tiny skirt hugged her flawless bottom, and he stared at her smooth legs, studying what seemed to be a honey hue of a sparkling shimmer on her skin. Turning suddenly, she caught his eye, carefully watching her. She smiled and flicked her hair from her slight shoulder. He glanced down at the beer he was pulling as she approached the bar. A touch of jasmine hit his senses, not overpowering, just enough for him to smell.

She stood close, too close, and touching his wrist, her voice was sincere and soft. "Thanks for helping out tonight."

Her breast brushed his arm, sending tingles along his skin. He nodded, sharply. "It's alright." _Damn_. He could have kicked himself for lack of something to say, and just when he probably should have said something more meaningful. It had been a long time since he had felt this helpless and incoherent around Tifa, not since they travelled the Planet together. He felt he had regressed to a teenager again. He looked down at her hand, and painted red nails against his skin. She hardly ever painted her nails, only for special occasions... and now tonight? He focused on the silver wolf ring, the one he had given to her before he left, and the words they had exchanged at the time. Seeing it still on her finger after all that had happened between them was encouraging.

She responded with a coy smile and hurried away to another customer.

The jukebox was on full volume again after Cloud had turned it down for the second time. Why did people need it to be so loud? He swore to himself as he watched Tifa accosted by a happy reveler coaxing her to dance. She shimmied past him in the narrow space, their groins inadvertently sliding together. Cloud's jaw clenched and his body tensed, nearly smashing the glass he held with his bare hand. His rage built as the man latched onto her waist attempting to halt her and force her to move. Declining his offer, she shook her head and laughed, quite at ease with the whole interaction, unlike Cloud. With her hair thrown back and her smile radiating, she looked as if she were enjoying herself. The man wasn't the only customer to want her attention either. Cloud could barely constrain his temper, and he did it because she was in control of the situation, and when she was in control he knew there was no need for him to step in and push his weight around.

A patron walking back to his seat startled Cloud with a jarring nudge in his ribs as he collected empty glasses. His voice garbled, the man said, "Whoever's got her under the sheets is a lucky devil, eh?"

Briefly, Cloud closed his eyes, convincing himself the man was just a drunk and it was simply a compliment, not a reason to kick him out. He looked to Tifa laughing and bending over a table, a strand of hair dangling between her breasts that were ready to spill from her top. _Lucky devil...?_ Did the guy know Cloud _didn't_ have Tifa, not in the way he was thinking anyway. The man's drunk remark depressed him. There shouldn't be anything holding them apart, not now. They had talked about his leaving and he had apologized to her and the kids, so why couldn't he work out the words to say to her. Something had to give, but he couldn't figure out how to do it.

Tifa was taking an order at a table of loud and rowdy men who Cloud had noticed on their arrival. Mainly because of the wolf whistle Tifa received and their eyes checking her over in a greedy fashion. He was right to suspect their motives. Soon enough one of the sleazy idiots put a groping hand on Tifa's backside, rubbing in an obvious way.

She laughed it off, and swatting at his hand, she backed inches away, which wasn't any good because she was nearer the other man, eyeing her breasts lewdly. And it didn't help that her vulnerable stomach and breasts were eye level with those seated at the table. After some quick scribbling, she dashed away. Cloud stood scowling, ready to stalk straight to the table to kill them or at least damage them in some way.

As if sensing his fury, Tifa, chewing on her quivering bottom lip, went directly to him, halting him in his path. "I'll be okay, please don't start anything." Her voice shook with uncharacteristic anxiety and she placed a steadying hand on his arm. "Not tonight."

It was not hard to see she was disturbed by the men's presumptuous advances. He shifted his glowing eyes to her dark ones pleading for his restraint. He snapped, "You're not going over there again."

Relaxing her shoulders, her smile brightened with relief. "Fair enough. You can go over there."

"I will."

He served the men and they made it clear they were not happy with a male waiter. "We want Tifa to talk to us..." one of the men grumbled while raising his glass to his mouth.

Cloud was dying to throw them out, but was reluctant, wanting to obey Tifa and not make a scene. "That's not going to happen."

"Who are you, her keeper?" He swilled the beer around in his glass. "We were only joking... having some fun..."

Cloud thumped his hand on the table, rattling the glasses, and leaning over, he was eye to eye with the inebriated jerk. "I'm alot more than that and I don't make jokes." He gripped the back of the man's sweaty neck and forced him down, so his nose was inches from the table and he squeezed enough to let him know he wouldn't be able to get out of the pincer hold if he tried.

The drunk sneered, his mouth slanting into a mean line. "Are you threatening me?"

"However you want to take it." Cloud's eyes steamed with unrestrained rage as he considered future nights when he might not be present to witness and deal with men like this. He growled by the man's stubbled cheek. "If you ever touch Tifa or show her any disrespect, you will regret ever walking in here." The man gave a flicker of apprehension. Cloud didn't know what the other men were doing, he was too incensed to look. He wanted to choke the life out of the guy right there, but he released him and left him rubbing his bruised neck. Cloud was glad to see them walk out the door not long after.

As the evening progressed, more of the customer's gazes lingered on Tifa, including Cloud's. So intent on following her movements about the room, he panicked when he lost sight of her. Searching for her, he found her in the kitchen, bending over, pulling things out of a cupboard in a frantic hustle, and mumbling away to herself. Her sleek upper thighs glistened, and at the top of her parted legs, her white panties were visible, in an innocent yet alluring way. Rowan stood gaping, oblivious to Cloud, pretty much the same as everyone else in 7th Heaven. Cloud turned a scathing glare on him and snarled, "Do you _want_ to keep working here?" or _d_o you want me to kill you,__ but that sounded too extreme even for Cloud although it was way more accurate.

Rowan shook his head, as if coming out of a trance. "Yeah, but, man, she's such a babe." He quickly scooted away on seeing Cloud scowling and his eyes turn fierce.

Cloud went to Tifa, placing a tentative hand on her bare back. "Tif- what are -"

"Aha!" Spinning around, she collided with him, and in her hand was a bag of straws, and her moist lips gave him a satisfied smile. "I found them."

He looked past the straws, taking the opportunity to glance at her flushed cheeks and eyes, searching his, and down to the creamy sheen of her supple flesh, and nipples, rising from the sudden change in temperature. Standing close, he rested his hand on her upper arm unwilling to let her flit from his presence.

"Yes?" Her eye lids fluttered with timid curiosity.

Now was the moment to say something, but he wanted - _want to grab your waist, gather your hair and kiss your pretty neck, slowly mouth my way up to your lips… _he hesitated too long.

Moving out from his hand, she said with a sad lilt to her voice, "Cloud... I... it's busy, I have to get back."

Regret knotting his heart, he watched her walk back to the noise and people, and _away_ from him. Old familiar fantasies harassed his thoughts, mocking his inability to express his feelings. His heart was ready to erupt into a fiery mess at all the attention she was receiving from men not shy of showing their lustful gazes. He could do nothing to stop it, only get mad, and that sort of reaction would only end badly. He was on the outside looking in on Tifa's life. Suddenly he baulked at the vision of Tifa with someone other than him. His stomach lurched in nauseous panic at the notion. Tense and strung like a bow, he was a bomb of emotions. His mounting lust was fighting with an overwhelming urge to kill everyone in the room. Was she _trying_ to drive him crazy?

With every suggestive comment, licentious look and groping hand, there was the stark realization that Tifa was not his. The truth was painful; she was available, a single woman, who could have any guy she wanted. There was nothing secure tying him to her, except unspoken words and feelings, and their close friendship. But if the words weren't there, and what would friendship amount too if she had another guy in her life. There was no way he could continue living like this.

Tifa was closing the bar earlier than usual and finally that time had arrived. Once the majority of patrons had left, she sent Rowan home and Cloud helped with the end of the clearing up. He shoved the last handful of customers out the door while Tifa washed up in the kitchen. With a drunken slovenly pat on Cloud's back, an older man paused at the door. "We just 'magine it, but you-" he leaned close and pointed a wobbling finger into Cloud's chest "-you get to live it." The man cackled at his crude humor as he stumbled out into the cold night air.

Cloud creased his brow at the invasive comment. What he was living now was torture. He shut the door and sighed with relief. Now that the night was over, he was grateful he hadn't hit or killed anyone, even by accident, although it had taken every bit of will power. The bar was quiet and empty, except for him and Tifa. He relaxed in the peace, the sleazy opinionated crowd of customers faded from his mind, and he was struck by a startling revelation. The most beautiful and captivating woman of Edge if not the Planet was under the same roof as him. The woman _he_ loved, but not just for her body or the clothes she might wear, but for the person she was and always had been. And that woman was not more than twenty paces away. Simmering with covetous desire, he marched into the kitchen, his body burning with emotions he could no longer control nor did he want too. He wanted to lose it.

At his sudden appearance in the doorway, Tifa startled as if caught in headlights. Dishtowel and pot in hand, she blinked nervously, staring with trepidation into his eyes flaring a luminous Mako aqua. She had never seen him look at her this way, with ferocious intensity. But he couldn't calm his eyes, the same way he couldn't suppress the needs of his flesh. Fixing his gaze on her shocked face, he marched to her and snatched the pot from her hand. He slammed it down on the counter and grabbing the towel, he tossed it into the sink. Tifa was left empty handed and speechless, her mouth forming a silent 'Ooh.'

He stepped closer and scooped his hand under her hair, clasping her neck in a gentle hold, his other held her waist, drawing her body into his. Among the things he wanted to do to her, this was at the top of the list. The longing, coursing through his body, became evident at the press of his lips on hers, the kiss tentative yet probing, the sensuous feel of her cool tender lips on his was both sensitive and overpowering, and he took more of her with a hungry abandonment.

Slow, he attempted to withdraw, to see - was she as surprised as he at his impetuousness? But, he realized too late, there was no way he was going to stop, couldn't stop wanting her, not now that he had tasted her sweet tender mouth. Her tongue responded with delicate power, igniting a passion that had been amassing over the years, all building to an overwhelming need in his body to find his place in her. His physical longing for Tifa had been laying dormant, held back as he lived in denial. Now his lust inflamed his body and could no longer be held back. His fingers fanned her silk tresses and ran down her back, capturing her in a secure embrace. Craving the taste of her hot mouth, he deepened his tongue's caress.

Eventually, he broke from her lip's embrace and stared into her face, conveying as much feeling in his flaming eyes as any words might say. She gazed at him, so close he could see her dark lashes and eyes, like burgundy pools, glistening with _tears_? There would be no more crying. Holding her steady, he kissed her flittering eyelids and her tears, wiping the sadness away, and feathering her cheek lightly, he arrived at her ear and uttered, "I want you..." The words spilling from his heart with such sincerity he blushed and tracing a trail with his lips to her mouth he finished, his voice strong and determined, "...to be mine."

"Yes." Her answer, a breathless gasp under his lips, nearly stopped his heart and it was all he needed to know he was doing the right thing. Sliding his hand down her svelte frame, feeling every curve, he rested it on the dip of her bare waist and stroked the hollow of her lower back. His fingers circled under her skirt line, playing with the top of her knickers while he sought more of her with his mouth. Her hand eased up to his neck and curled into his blond spikes, her tongue diving into him. Driven by her willingness and her desire to meet his own passion, he pressed with more confidence, grinding himself into her with a desperate need that surprised him. His words were a husky hum against her cheek - "If you want me to stop, tell me now."- because he didn't think he would be able to stop later.

"No." Her lips caressed his cheek; her hot breath sending ripples down his flesh as much as her amorous order. "Don't _ever_ stop."

Biting her throat with ravenous kisses, he cupped her breast. She gasped at the sudden touch. Her eager moan excited him to rub firmer. He kissed a line down her neck to her cleavage. Eyes closed, Tifa threw her head back, and soft whimpers came from her throat and he delighted in the taste of her skin and the pleasure it was bringing her.

Sensing her become limp, he held her waist and lifted her onto the counter. Positioning herself on the edge, she wiggled her skirt up, while he leisurely felt down her supple legs to her ankles, flicking off her shoes. She braced him with her parted legs and their kisses became more fervent. The dam had burst. He devoured her with his mouth, wanting to turn what he had been fantasizing about during the evening and every night that he dreamed of Tifa, into reality. Ravaging her with his lips and tongue, his hands stroked her sleek thighs. He wanted more... he wanted her whole body. But not here in the kitchen - not like that. Straightening, he kissed her waiting mouth, and murmured by her lips, "Tifa..." his voice, deep, rough, and needy "Make love to me?" Now was the time, and he couldn't hold it back anyway, he didn't want to.

Twining her arms around his neck, and breathing, _Yes_ against the heat of his mouth, she smiled.

He slipped his hand under her bottom. "Put your legs around me." Locking her ankles behind his waist, he supported her body and lifted her up with ease. Smiling, she continued planting kisses on his face, scattering hot bites on his neck, while her hair splayed over them both like a velvet blanket. Caressing his ear with her molten lips, she teethed his lobe, and flicked his wolf stud with her tongue. Balancing her and judging the route upstairs, he managed not to topple them both over.

With a sharp kick, he opened Tifa's door. The lamp, still lit, gave off a warm radiance in the room that smelt of fresh linen and Tifa's essence. While still holding her, clutching him tightly, he swept the quilt open and lowered her down to the bed. He quickly heeled off his boots all the while focused on her, his eyes taking off her clothes and wanting her in everyway, and disliking the empty air between them. Even so, no matter how bad he yearned for her, he also wanted to savor her, every part of her. Above everything he wanted to do, he desired to please her.

Kneeling up on the bed, she watched him. Her lustrous locks framed her glowing face and ardent imploring eyes like nothing Cloud had seen before; vulnerable and trusting. He blushed under her needy gaze suddenly questioning whether he was worthy of bringing her fulfillment. But the degree of his love for her in that one moment was heartrending, making it impossible to ever turn away from her even if he didn't have what it takes, even if she willed it, he would never stop loving her.

Her hands spread across his torso, pulling at his shirt, roughly yanking it over his head. Fondling his muscular chest with hands and mouth, she dipped her head to skim kisses over his skin. She caressed his skin, and her kisses turned to nibbles, making him inhale sharply. With her thumb, she rounded the scar on his breast bone, and she looked at him briefly as if about to speak, but her mouth opened and she bit kisses on the nape of his neck. He in no way wanted her to feel remorse over what happened. It was a mark that showed they had both survived. He kissed her forehead, nudging her face up to meet his. Their lips interlocked in a meaningful embrace, speaking more than any words could say about their tragic past.

Hungering to feel more of her, he needed to possess what was still clothed. Drawing her nearer, he unclasped her top and looped it over her disheveled locks. Flushed, she gazed at him, her lids lowered, and reaching around his neck, her breath warmed his skin and she murmured, "I want you, too."

Sensitive to her sincere heartfelt words, his eyes rimmed with vivid blue and his heart pounded, and with a smile, he murmured his gladness against her ear in a tickling breathe. He hugged her, pressing her nearer to his body while seizing her mouth with greedy longing. Without looking down, she unbuttoned his jeans. Jerking on them brusquely and with frustration that made him silently chuckle against her mouth, she slid them and his shorts down, past waist and hips. She glanced down yet averted her gaze, pink tingeing her face along with the flush of pleasure.

His voice hoarse, he whispered, "I'm already going to explode at the sight of you." He kicked his jeans off his ankles and lifted her, cradling her back and head, onto the sheet.

Her eyes, reflecting affectionate trust, watched him take his time, smoothing her skirt down, past her legs. He did the same with her knickers yet trailing their descent with lips and tongue. His eyes feasted on her womanly beauty, consuming her; lips, blood-red and open seductively, lush waves of her hair adorned the pillow. _Heavenly_.

Watching him, her lids became heavy at his forthright study of her body, and she wiggled and chewed on her lip. Not wanting her to feel self-conscious, he whispered, "You're breathtaking," the earnest praise, flowing naturally from his mouth.

Her eyes danced over his body and she responded with honesty, her voice catching in her throat, "You're pretty sexy yourself." Blushing, she took all of him in, her claret eyes, burning with longing.

That Tifa would find him attractive was a turn-on in itself, that she would touch him in this way was a potent aphrodisiac. He sought her mouth, delving deeper. Her nails scraped his neck, his back, and her hand caressed his bottom, propelling him down.

"Not yet," his words, a murmur of restrained lust. How could any man resist this… but there was no way he was going to reach a moment of ecstasy before her and he was already so close. His lips traced a languid line from her neck to her chest. He took the love-making as slow as she needed to go, trusting his instincts and letting her pleasure guide him. Everything about her was intoxicating, and his desire went into overdrive when she finally moaned out his name.

Despite wanting her so badly, he also realized it might be her first time. He hadn't even thought to ask, and now wasn't the time. Suddenly he was assailed with concern she might not be comfortable with the new expanded pressure inside her, or maybe he was rushing to far ahead. "Are you okay?

Her tender cheeks were flushed, and she gasped, "Yes," against his cheek and with ardent passion added, "It's perfect… you're perfect…"

Desiring the touch of her whole body, he embraced her completely. All his longing now accumulating to one point of ecstasy he craved to experience with her. His hand ran down her side to feel her slight frame under the shelter of his larger one, and down, cupping her bottom, and drawing her closer. She felt so _amazingly_ good. She was more than he had ever imagined, ever dreamed. His hot kisses skimmed her cheek and he groaned by her ear. "You're divine..." he spoke his thoughts aloud, and she smiled, her wine-tinted eyes smoldering with raw lust for him. Why did he put this off for so long?

"_Tifa"_ - moaning her name gave him just as much delight. She was all he was aware of as the built-up yearnings of the evening and years beyond that exploded in spasms of overwhelming bliss. Along with the physical delight, overpowering visions of her filled him; from the time they were children and the first time he saw her again after those lost years. She had become everything to him. His love for her had not waned but had grown stronger over the years.

He responded to her kiss, seeking her out, taking her deeply with appreciation. Parting from her lips, he stroked her cheek, easing a strand of hair from her face. "Tifa," - Breathing hard, he murmured words that had been burdening his heart for too long, and the love-making would mean nothing if he didn't express them right then - "I have always loved you,"- he stroked her cheek with tender care - "and I always will."

Twisting a length of his gold hair around her finger, she smiled, her eyes glowing, she looked up at him and whispered into his lips, "and I've always loved you and will forever." He held her and rolled her gently so they could both lie face to face. He reached for the quilt he had drawn earlier and covered them both. She snuggled into his embrace, resting her head on the curve of his shoulder. Hooking his leg over her thigh, he gathered her close, protectively. Now that he had her, he didn't want her leaving for any reason. He had found the place where he belonged and a peace in his heart. Finally - the empty void in his life could close.

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><p><strong>AN is this story still too strong for some? Can you leave an opinion if you have one, either way? Thanks! I would appreciate it. Otherwise I'll probably remove it.**


	6. 7th Heaven: Back from Vacation

Hi again!

posting again. Very weird, I know. but needed to get this one out. Then working on the next chapter for TPL. Some more cutsy fun stuff! haha. it's a little break from my heavy chapters.

to the reviewer who mentioned Marlene coming aback from vacation as the 'winner' I think SapphryeMyst (sorry if I spelt that wrong) thankyou for that idea :)

Thankyou to all those who have reviewed, faved, alerted and emailed me. It's very nice. Till next chapter! Xxx

**REVISED 11/2/14**

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><p>~~ Seventh Heaven ~~<p>

**Back from Vacation**

Mid afternoon, the doors of Seventh Heaven flew open and Denzel and Marlene ran through. Cloud and Tifa sat at the empty bar, awaiting their arrival. Tifa jumped down to greet them. "Welcome home, kids!" She sang and extended her arms to receive them.

"Glad you're back," Cloud smiled at the two of them, "and safe." It was good to have them back and that Barret hadn't damaged them in anyway, but even so, a few more days would have been nice, to make up for those days he had to work.

The children ran up to them, their arms loaded with souvenirs, and raising their voices to be heard over each other. "Did you miss us?" Denzel cried, his face flushed with delight, and holding a toy boat and a long handled net.

"Yep!" Tifa hugged him, plus the boat, and she was not able to stop grinning. "Missed your smiles."

Cloud had forgotten how loud they could be, and he looked to the door with a concerned frown. "Where's Barret?" He wondered if the big guy had dropped them off and departed as soon as he could.

"He's coming," Marlene replied.

Barret soon came in, hauling three bags, and backpacks were slung over his shoulders, and he was breathing hard. "Made it."

"We missed you too!" Marlene attempted hugging Tifa, but with a giant purple and white moggle and a fairy wand between them, it wasn't going to happen.

"You'll have to tell us everything." Tifa crouched down and smiled at the girl's glowing eyes, but eyed her gifts with worry and frowned at Barret. "That's a lot of stuff…"

Barret let the packs drop from his shoulders. "You ain't seen the half of it."

"Barret!" Tifa cried.

Cloud laughed, he knew the kids' had a way of making you spend money. He knew far too well. "You had fun then?"

Marlene and Denzel ran into their room, taking their loot with them.

"I haven't had that much fun in a while," Barret guffawed, "Hopefully it will be a while before I have it again." He laughed at his own humour.

"I'll get you a drink," Tifa went behind the bar. "You probably need it."

Cloud picked up Denzel and Marlenes' bags, one of which was shades of bright pink with a number of coloured choco keyrings. He carried them into the kids' room.

Marlene stood between the beds and arranged the soft toy on her pillow, while Denzel cleared space on the bedside table for his boat.

Cloud put Marlene's bag on the bed, and he passed the other to Denzel. He leaned on the doorframe. "So, you had a good time?"

Denzel dumped his bag on the floor. "It was awesome!"

"What did you do?" Cloud was beginning to worry they had too much of a good time. Was home that boring?

"We swam, fished for yabbies. Went in some caves," Denzel added, "got lost in them-"

"Barret took you in caves?" Cloud queried, trying not to sound too worried.

"Nah, Yuffie, and we went to the carnival-"

Cloud interrupted, "Yuffie was there?"

Marlene had opened her bag and was pulling out a white princess dress. "Yes! And Aunty Shera and Cid."

He expected they would see Shera and Cid, but Yuffie… was everyone there? He scratched his head, considering what might have gone on, and knowing Cid, it could be everything not permitted for children.

"I didn't go on any rides," Marlene pulled out a pink heart cushion, "Denzel did, and Barret, but it made him sick."

"Errw, so gross!" Denzel made a face and stuck out his tongue.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," It was a sight Cloud had seen before, and it was not something he wanted to see again. Barret heaving.

Denzel went on, "Maybe we can go back there, Cloud. You'd like the rides."

Rides? Actually, he didn't know if he would, but he could find out. "Maybe." But, he was still trying not to think about Yuffie getting them lost. In caves. "How did you get lost?"

Denzel replied, "I wasn't scared, but Marlene was-"

"No, I wasn't." She retorted. "But it was a long time, and it was cold."

Cloud stood stiffly, his voice simmered. "Where was Barret?"

"Barret found us," Denzel explained, as if it were just another activity and there were more important things to talk about.

Cloud opened his mouth to speak his annoyance, but decided to keep his anger under wraps, for now. "Were you worried?"

"Not really," Denzel shrugged. "Yuffie was!"

"I bet," Cloud shook his head. Barret had obviously left Yuffie in charge of them, and she was probably going nuts.

Marlene giggled. "She tried not to panic, but she couldn't hide it."

Tifa came into the room, and she went over to Marlene's stockpile of items. She sat on the bed and fingered the tulle on the ivory dress. Red roses were embroidered around the collar, and on the butterfly wing sleeves. "This is beautiful." She continued with awe and some surprise, "How?"

"Barret sure is generous." Cloud wished he was that generous around Seventh Heaven.

"Well…" Marlene dithered with the skirt.

"She kinda won it." Denzel answered for her with a shrug.

"At the carnival?" Tifa cried in surprise.

Denzel frowned and shook his head.

Cloud raised a knowing brow. "Right."

Marlene blushed and held the dress against her body. "Daddy said I could have it. You like it?"

Tifa swept her hand over Marlene's pony-tail. "I do, it suits you, but I'm worried…"

Marlene's face dropped. "Everyone put in for it, not just Barret."

"Did Denzel get something?" Cloud questioned with irritation that they would over spend on Marlene, but forget Denzel.

"Nah," Denzel turned his face down. "I didn't win."

Bewildered, Tifa met eyes with Cloud, and he frowned with growing suspicion.

"Did you have a good time?" Marlene said quickly.

Cloud started, "We di-"

"Did you take Tifa out?" Marlene butted in.

"We—" Tifa said.

"Did you go riding?" Denzel's eyes widened with envy.

Marlene stared at Cloud with a stern glare. "Did Tifa have fun."

Cloud put his hands up to stop them, and he shook his head at her forthright attitude. "We did have a good time." He couldn't think of anything that would beat going to bed with Tifa every night. No, there was nothing. "I even managed to make Tifa smile. More than once."

Tifa smiled broadly, as if in proof of his statement, and she shared a look with him. "He's been very good at making me smile."

Marlene looked between them, her eyes lighting up, and she nodded.

"But how?" Denzel asked.

Cloud thought quickly, and sidetracked him with the boy's favourite topic. "We went for a ride, or two-"

Tifa covered her chuckle, but behind her hand she was beaming. She shook her head at him with mirth.

"Where?" Denzel said.

"Up to the hills. The Blue-Ridge falls." They also went into the ruins of Midgar, but he didn't need to tell them everything they had been doing.

Tifa nodded, her smile was brimming with happiness. "We went swimming too."

"Amongst other things," Cloud added under his breath with a smile. It was the best two weeks of his life and he wouldn't have cared if they had stayed in for the while time.

Denzel pouted, and his brow creased. "Aww, that sound's fun."

"Yeah, it was, but you got to go away," Cloud remonstrated, "maybe next time."

Tifa lifted her brow at Cloud and nodded. "Don't forget…"

He screwed up his brow in thought. "That's right. Hey, Denzel, I was thinking, how would you like to move into my old room?"

Denzel's eyes widened and his mouth hung agape, and he cried, "My own room?"

Marlene bounced on the spot and squealed, and she pointed at Denzel. They both started laughing so much they ended up holding their sides.

Cloud spread his arms in confusion. "What?" He looked to Tifa for an answer.

She had the same puzzled expression. "I have no idea. What has Barret been saying to them?"

"Nothing that bunch does would surprise me." Folding his arms, Cloud stated, "If you don't want the room that's fine, I'll still need an offi—"

"I want it!" Denzel shouted through his giggles, and he took a breath. "But you're staying, right?"

Cloud walked to the boy and put his hand on his head, but he looked at Tifa. "Not going anywhere. I'm going to be sharing a room with Tifa."

"That's right, from now on Cloud and I will be in the same room," Tifa looked at Marlene and Denzel, making sure they understood how things were going to be different.

Marlene nodded, and said in a very adult voice. "Yes, I know."

Tifa creased her brow and pressed her lips together, no longer mucking around. "Is that so? I wonder how you knew that?"

Marlene's eyes skipped over Denzel, but he was going to let her do the talking. "I just know these things." She smiled sweetly, and changing the subject, she said, "Now, I've got some ideas for the colours in my room-"

"Hold on there," Tifa snapped.

Cloud chuckled. What could they expect if they went away with the best bunch of rogues the planet had ever seen? "You could always ask Barret."

Tifa turned her frown on him. "I think that's a good idea."

"Yes, you could talk to daddy." Marlene nodded as if she were suddenly off the hook. "But he won't know anything."

Cloud gave Tifa a half-smile. "He'll know enough once he downs a few Corel Sangrias."


	7. 7th Heaven: Spying

Hi again!

Just a little short story, very fluffy and sweet. I've got another little thing I'll do soon. Would love a Valentine story, but will see how I go.

Sorry, I have to type news here. I have no other way of notifying readers and giving my thanks. This site is not good for social networking.

To Reese, did you see my previous comment on Ch35? If you didn't, I wanted to thank you for your review. I really wanted to respond but there is no link. I don't know how you know I'm posting if you have no acc? But thanks for that, it's one of the best I've had, and I continue to read it!

Also, thank you to all those who have left a review, and emailed me! Haha I love emails reminding me to update. Every review counts because I don't get many compared to the number of people reading my work, which seems to be a great number of people.

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><p>~~ 7th Heaven ~~<p>

**SPYING**

The sound of furniture being dragged across the floor, and an excited squeal came from the downstairs bedroom as Cloud walked past. Hearing an angry yowl, he halted at the closed door, wondering what Marlene and Denzel were doing in there. Were they jumping on the bed, again? Tifa would not be happy.

He gripped the knob, ready to enter, but paused when he heard Marlene's normally dainty voice, yell, "—when I grow up, I'm going to be Tifa-"

"I'll be Cloud," Denzel interrupted.

"You have to be strong, but now, this is what we're playing," she stated, "I'm the Florist and you buy flowers off me-"

Denzel's muffled voice came back in a grumble. "What am I going to do with flowers?"

"Make the house pretty," she sang.

"You should be a mechanic and fix my truck."

Cloud envisioned the boy, holding his military toy truck that had every light and sound possible to have in a toy vehicle, courtesy of Reeve on Denzel's last birthday. Sadly, the thing was broken. _Damn thing,_ Cloud cursed under his breath at not fulfilling his promise to fix it. He made a mental note to do so.

"Yuck!" Marlene yelled, and bounce, went the bed springs. "Machines are dirty!"

Cloud imagined her making her pouty face of disgust, and he chuckled under his breath.

"Plants are dirty too!" Denzel retorted.

_That's right, Denzel, _Cloud grinned.

Marlene raised her voice above his complaining. "When I grow up-"

"I'm going to fight monsters," Denzel butted in, his voice going even louder. He made some shooting noises, just to prove his point.

Marlene continued, "...and I'm going to marry someone who likes flowers. Someone like Cloud-"

"Cloud doesn't like flowers!" Denzel cried in a horrified voice.

Marlene shrieked, "He does too like flowers."

Cloud smiled broadly at the closed door, the idea that she wanted to marry someone like him was peculiar, and a little disconcerting.

"Err," Denzel responded. "When I grow up I'm going to marry Tifa."

Despite Denzel being only eleven, Cloud frowned with some jealousy, and he couldn't help but protest aloud. "Not likely."

"Nooo!" Marlene drew the word out with annoyance, and in a gruff voice, she said, "Yo' foo'! Cloud's gonna marry Tifa."

_Good on you, Marlene_. Cloud leaned his head on the door, and grinned at her declaration.

"Cloud!" Tifa had come down the passage, and stopped, hands on her hips. "What are you-"

"Shss!" Turning his head slightly, he put a finger to his lips to hush her.

She came up beside him and rested her chin on his shoulder, and whispered, "You're spying."

"You have to see to spy," he replied under his breath.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Eavesdropping then."

"You should hear this," Cloud whispered.

Marlene went on with her lecture, "...and besides, Tifa's like your mother, you can't marry your mother."

Cloud looked at Tifa, and she covered her mouth to stop her giggling.

"Tifa's my mother?" Denzel's voice took on a dreamy tone.

"Yes! And Cloud's your dad!"

"Cloud's my dad? You really think so?"

A warm glow spread up from Cloud's core and Tifa poked him in the ribs. "See!"

It was a simple statement. The boy's wishful questioning brought home how important his presence was at 7th Heaven and in the child's life.

"Yes, silly. I'm just lucky, 'cus I've got two dads, but you're lucky, 'cus Cloud's your dad."

"You've got two dads?"

"Cloud's my dad too!" She squealed and giggled like a loon, and Denzel soon joined her.

Tifa whispered in Cloud's ear, "There you go. Barrett will love that. Not."

Denzel stopped laughing and said with serious intent, "I guess I'll marry you then."

"Aargh!" Marlene yelled, "You can't marry your sister! Ugh! Denzel!"

"I'm not going to get married, I'm going to fight things."

The door suddenly flew open, and Cloud nearly fell into the room with Tifa not far behind him.

Denzel held the handle and creased his brow with suspicion at the two of them. "Ah, we were… just… playing…"

Cloud glanced at the room. They had pulled out Marlene's long waist high bookcase to the middle of the floor. Books had been strewn across the mat, and the toy box was open and dress-ups were scattered nearly everywhere. Coloured paper flowers were along the top of the bookcase amidst two real flower pots. Cloud reached out his hand and combed his fingers through the boy's soft strands. "It's okay, I've come to look at that broken truck."

With an excited smile, Denzel handed it to him. "You think you can fix it?"

Cloud rolled it in his hands, examining its undercarriage. "Don't know till I look." He was getting better at fixing machinery, now that he did so many tune-ups on Fenrir. "If I can't, we'll send it back to Reeve and he'll have to get you a new one."

"Yeah!"

Cloud and Denzel were about to leave the room.

Tifa stood in the doorway, arms folded. "Hold on, before you go anywhere, you two need to clean up this room."

Denzel hung his head and Marlene pouted.

"Tifa's right," Cloud added, "I'll look at this while you clean up." He closed the door behind him.

Marlene's little voice chirped to Denzel, "You see, she's just like our mother."

"Yeah, you're really right," Denzel said, "and Cloud's like our dad."

~7~

Tifa took Cloud's hand and led him away from the room. "So, how does it feel?"

"That Marlene wants to marry someone like me?"

"No." Tifa laughed, and shook her head. "That you are the father of two children."

With his one hand, he drew Tifa into an embrace, and held her close. "It doesn't feel too bad. How does it feel for you?"

She touched her lips on his and they kissed for moments, before she said, "It feels good, really good."


	8. Darkness Looms: Night Terrors

Hi! something special for those following these short scenes. I'm excited I've finally got this done. I'm hoping to start something big, but not sure when I can write scenes. It might be irregular. When I get some more scenes done I might put it under one heading.

Hope you enjoy!

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><p><strong>Part I<strong>

**NIGHT TERRORS**

Under the covers, Tifa turned around in Cloud's arms and he pulled her against him till she was snuggled against his hips. Her back was warm against his chest and his hand rested on her stomach. He breathed in the scent of her hair, spreading between them. With a smile on her face, and her eyes already closed, she whispered, "'night."

He kissed her ear and whispered the same.

She was asleep within moments, and he was left listening to the howling gale outside. The roaring wind had not ceased for the last few hours and it only seemed to worsen with its intensity. It was a good night to be home in bed. He closed his eyes, planning on following Tifa into slumber, except… through the storm he could hear something...

He opened his eyes wide, and staring at the dark room, he listened to the small voice calling for Tifa. He watched Tifa and her chest rising softly. She was well and truly asleep, and he wasn't about to wake her. The petite voice called again, this time with more urgency. Marlene must really want something, to keep crying out, and he wondered how long she had been calling. Surely he would have heard her, but of course, they may have been too occupied.

He let go of Tifa and rose from the bed. The temperature had plummeted to a chilly air, and he pulled the blanket up to his pillow to retain the warmth. Before he went anywhere, he had to look for some clothes. Finally finding them thrown across the room, he yanked the black cotton boxers on, and went to see what Marlene wanted.

Down the short flight of steps to her room, he neared her door.

In a trembling muffled voice, Marlene questioned, "Tifa?"

"It's me," Cloud whispered. With the curtains pulled, the room was in darkness. He could see, but he doubted Marlene could. "What's wrong, Marlene?"

She was completely concealed, hiding under her new flowered duvet, except for a small peep hole for her eyes and mouth. "Cloud?" She circled her face with the blanket, but it still covered her head. "Where's Tifa?"

"She's asleep." He approached the bed.

"Oh..." Her eyes were like glistening saucers in the moonlight. "I'm scared..."

He sat on the mattress by her head. "You had a nightmare?" At least Cloud knew something about nightmares. He'd had enough of his own.

Lowering the blanket, she looked up at him from the pillow, and her brunette hair splayed over it and her neck, and the big purply-pink moggle she slept with. "I heard something…"

"Ah, I see." The wind continued moaning outside, and in the distance he could hear knocking, and the clanging of some metal object not tied down. "The wind." It certainly was eerie this evening, he would give her that.

"There's something out there," she whispered and glanced at the window.

"It's only the wind, nothing to be afraid of." He tried to pass on his assurance. "We're all here and Denzel's across the hall."

She watched him with a pleading look. "There's something wrong… I feel it."

Frowning with concern over her apprehension, he opened his mouth to speak—

-BANG-

At the abrupt noise, Marlene sprang up and clutched the blanket around her shoulders, and her moggle was squeezed into her cheek, and if it was alive it would be strangled. Her eyes of terror went between Cloud and the open door. She probably would have screamed if he hadn't been sitting there with her.

Cloud also looked towards the door and the sound that seemed to come from the bar.

"Cloud…" her voice shook.

"I'll go and see." He stood to go.

"But your swords?" She cried in a tremulous tone.

His swords?! How afraid was she? But then again, he was only dressed in his underwear. Not a good look if there was an intruder. "They're upstairs. Don't worry, I'll be back in a minute."

He walked into the dark tavern. Nobody there. Stopping at the window, he gazed at the street, devoid of any life, except for dirt and rubbish whirling in mini tornados. It blew against the glass and down the streets in a ghastly howl. In the distance he could hear scraps, and the clatter of garbage tins been swept down the road. He pulled on the front door. It was locked, but he didn't expect it would be open. He had locked it himself.

In the kitchen, the back door was locked, and the door to the garage. Everything was as he had left it when he shut the place up. Nothing out of place, or fallen down. On coming to the storeroom, he found the culprit. He surmised that the door had been left open and the wind had decided to shut it. He should have known.

He went back to Marlene to find her hiding under the yellow flower duvet; the mog's antenna sticking out next to her head. "Cloud!" she cried as if surprised he had returned unharmed.

He sat down again. "Nothing to worry about, it's just the storage door."

"But, something's going to happen." Marlene stared towards the vibrating window pane.

"Nothing is going to happen," he stated, trying to calm her down.

"Cloud, you shouldn't go to work tomorrow," she breathed out her request with childlike desperation.

"What?" He cried and blinked at her with confusion. He had a full three days away doing deliveries, and he wanted to complete them before the weekend. He couldn't put it off. How could being scared have anything to do with his work schedule? Now she was getting weird.

"Please, don't go." Marlene's eyes widened as if she were shocked at her own demand. "It's just… I think if you go, something will happen. Here."

Marlene had always been insightful, but could she actually know something? Or was she just scared and needy? "We'll see in the morning…" In the light of day everything always looked better.

"No! I'm really scared… and…and…"

Cloud took a thoughtful breath, and considered her request. "It's not that easy. I've got commitments." He had to speak with uncharacteristic sternness, "Marlene, we'll talk about it in the morning." But even so, and despite his words, she was managing to make him nervous.

"I'm scared. Something bad… is out there…"

Cloud sighed. His skin was tingling with goose-bumps from cold air coming from a draft somewhere. "What?"

"The wind is shrieking. It's horrible…" Her pretty face crinkled with terror he rarely saw on her. She grabbed hold of his arm, drawing him closer, and she embraced him. "I can hear it."

Cloud stared into her worried eyes, begging for him to hear her. Perhaps he was just too tired to think straight, but her fear was convincing enough. He listened to the groaning, creaking wind and within it there was a peculiar haunting noise.

"I can't sleep..." Her voice was barely audible. "I hear voices…"

If he tried he could imagine he heard voices as well, but beyond human, more like the wails of the dead. He had to admit it was abnormal. "Okay. I'll stay till you go to sleep."

Marlene gave a quick nod, and she snuggled down against her soft toy.

Cloud sat watching her, a smile playing on his lips. "'night."

After some moments, she opened her eyes and creased her delicate brow. "I can't sleep with you sitting there watching."

Cloud rolled his head back and sighed at the ceiling. This was getting a little too much. What would Tifa do anyway?

"Lay down." Marlene shuffled over to the edge of her large bed, and Cloud stretched his body down next to her. She gave him half her pillow and wiggled the duvet out from under him, and he lifted his side to help her, and she stretched it across him, attempting to tuck it past his back.

"Marlene, it's okay." The blanket just reached, and he could feel the draft, but surely he wasn't going to be there that long?

With the moggle under her arm, she put her hand on Cloud's shoulder and closed her eyes. "Thanks, Cloud. Goodnight."

"That's alright, as long as you go to sleep." His eyes slowly closed as he listened to the wailing wind.

~7~

A warm pressure at Cloud's back nudged him awake. He opened his eyes enough to see Tifa wasn't lying next to him, although he could have been mistaken with the strands of black hair tickling his nose. It was his arm over the pink moggle pushing into his chin that was the dead giveaway. The soft toy was bigger than Marlene's head. He guessed it had to be Denzel behind him. Had he been scared too? He probably came into Marlene's room, as he did on occasion, and seeing Cloud, thought it was an open invite to curl up next to him. The boy breathed down Cloud's bare back, and the blanket would barely have covered him. It would explain why he was sleeping so close, and why Cloud was now warm.

Cloud wanted to stretch something bad, but he was hemmed in. Arching his neck, he moaned softly. If he woke them now, he would only be trying to get them back to sleep, if they even went to sleep. Suddenly feeling really tired, he extended his legs a little straighter. _Sorry, Tifa,_ and he drifted back into a dreamless slumber.

~7~

Cloud woke to a hazy light hitting his closed lids. He tried to roll over, but no, that's right, he was trapped in a bed with kids and an overgrown mog. Opening his eyes, he saw Marlene's sweet face, eyes closed, fast asleep. Her wrist was lying on his neck and the cuddly toy was crushed into his chest between them. Behind him was a warm lead weight, breathing heavily, and not moving an inch.

Someone entered the room; Tifa, in her little white pajama shorts and singlet.

Thank Gaia, it was Tifa. Cloud watched her approach the window. "Tifa…" his voice was like gravel and he was near pleading.

"Oh, you're awake," she whispered and she drew the curtain half way and looked outside. The wind had subsided from the blistering gale, but it still moaned and swirled down the streets. "It's been blowing all night."

"You didn't sleep either?" Cloud eased himself up on his elbow.

Tifa hugged her arms and turned to him, she was pale in the chill dawn light, and goose bumps covered her arms, most likely her legs as well. "No…" She sat on the other side of Marlene, rubbing her arms. "It was a strange night…"

They sat in silence for a few moments and Tifa watched Marlene sleeping.

Cloud finally spoke. "I don't think I'll go to the west continent today." After a night of broken sleep, he was desperate to move his body, and he had a creak in his neck. Despite this, he felt he hadn't slept at all. On top of that, it was also still blowing up a storm outside.

"Can you afford it?"

"I should be able to." It was the failing of the commitment that would cost him. "I'll see if I can work something out. Anyway, just today."

Marlene had opened her eyes and looked at Cloud as he spoke, a little smile awakening her face.

Tifa chewed on her lip in consideration, "If you're sure, but why today?"

Rubbing her eyes, Marlene turned to Tifa, "Tifa…"

"Morning." Tifa ran her hand down her arm and squeezed. She said with some reprimand, "Did you make Cloud sleep next to you?"

"Kinda." She yawned and stretched her arms high.

"Yeah, she did." Cloud pushed himself up and leaned on the bed frame, trying not to wake Denzel, who so far had not been disturbed by their conversation. "But she couldn't sleep."

"He's not going, 'cuz I asked him," Marlene replied with pride.

Tifa frowned, and she had that look, that someone was going to get into trouble. "Marlene, you can't be doing that."

Marlene lowered her face and looked hurt**.** "I'm sorry…" she mumbled, "but, I still don't want Cloud to go."

"No, it's alright." Cloud glanced at Tifa and her expression softened. He wasn't sure why he wasn't going to work, but, something was making him uneasy. "It _was_ a strange night and I didn't sleep that well. I could really go another round with the pillow, my pillow." His eyes settled on Tifa and her dark eyes watching him, knowing exactly what he wanted. "Back in bed." He didn't mean for it to come out like an order.

Tifa tapped her finger on her chin and grinned. "I'd love to, but—"

Denzel sat up by Cloud and rubbing his eyes, he yawned.

Marlene said to Denzel, "Cloud's not going to work."

Denzel's eyes went to each of them and it was obvious he was still trying to wake up. "Great!"

"There's no way these two will leave you alone." Tifa eyed Marlene and Denzel, and smile tugged on her lips.

"Okay, but I'm not having a day off, I'm going to do some local jobs," Cloud told them, wondering if it was a wise decision after all. He said to Denzel, "You couldn't sleep?" The idea that they had moved Denzel out of the bedroom too soon crossed his mind.

Denzel shook his head. "I couldn't… the wind was in my dreams and I heard voices."

Marlene gasped with her hand flying to her mouth and her eyes shot to Cloud, as if to say I told you so.

Genuine concern shadowed Cloud's face and he looked at Tifa, sharing the same anxious expression. Tifa sat up straight and took a long breath, and in an attempt to break the solemn moment, she said, "Now that we're all up and not going anywhere right away, we'll have those eggs and sausages for breakfast."

"Sounds only a bit better than staying in bed," Cloud said.

"Sounds awesome!" Denzel said. "But the wind is still blowing, and it's cold now."

"Hopefully this storm will pass soon." Cloud looped his arm around Denzel's shoulders. "Nothing to worry about." It was just the wind, wasn't it? But, even Cloud had to admit he heard something within it that made him unsettled. But currently the wind was just the wind, and he couldn't hear anything.


End file.
